Meet our Ursula

Natasha Chen (Ursula) is eager to take on the challenge of playing a villain for the first time, during her first outdoor theatre experience. She’s grateful to be so warmly welcomed into the KFT family.

Natasha is a reporter on KIRO 7 News and loves to do theatre outside of work. Last year she played Isabel in Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s Pirates of Penzance. Natasha has done theatre in California, Texas, and England, and has directed Stanford Mixed Company a cappella group. She currently taps with Anthony Peters and sings with Susan Carr.

Here’s what Natasha had to say about her involvement in The Little Mermaid:

“The stories I cover in my daily job can sometimes be rather dark, which is why it is so fun – and important – for me to be able to dive into a Disney fairytale after work. After all, it’s Disney that taught me how to tell a good story to begin with.

The 1989 Little Mermaid movie played a crucial role in the childhood of any Gen Y or Millennial kid.  It launched Disney’s great revival of the ‘90s that included so many Alan Menken hits. We sang Ariel’s ‘ah-ah-ah’s’ on the school playground. She was on my first-grade backpack, as well as on the cake at my sixth birthday party.  It was the ‘Frozen’ of our time.

In December, I got the chance to see Jodi Benson sing ‘Part of Your World’ with the San Francisco Symphony, and I was reminded of how much the sound of her voice captured my imagination more than 20 years ago. I also had the chance to see the Broadway version in New York in 2008 where the actors moved on roller skates. I’m glad we’re not trying that on the forest dirt floor!

While every little girl dreams of being a princess, I am now much more fascinated as an adult to understand how someone like Ursula becomes ostracized in our society. ‘Evil’ is too simple a way to look at her; she is cunning and powerful, but makes poor choices. I’m especially excited to explore Ursula’s strange form of feminism as she tries to take back a kingdom she once ruled from the male heir (Triton) who now controls it. She has a line in this stage version that caught me immediately: ‘Gals with ambition – nothing scares a man more, does it?’ It is a beautiful irony that she is consciously taking away from Ariel the very thing she knows gives power to a woman: her voice.

As an avid Disney fan, I’m impressed at how our talented cast and hard-working crew are breathing new life and interpretation into this beloved classic. What’s more, we get to do this in the Kitsap Forest Theater, the perfect setting for suspending your disbelief and entering our underwater world.”

The Little Mermaid opens July 30th. Get your tickets now to join us under the sea – and under the trees.