RUMFORD – Forty-one landlubbers, fish and mer-creatures met early Tuesday evening for the first time at Rumford Public Library with a resounding splash.

Imaginations and a varied mix of excited voices collided when 41 Children’s Theatre youngsters aged 5 to 16 practiced their roles as actors, actresses and vocalists for this year’s Summer Fest production of “The Little Mermaid.”

“Today’s play practice was great!” said director Nancy O. DeMilner. “This was the first time that they’re all together, the first time that some of them had seen their counterparts.”

Since last month, the children have been rehearsing for their roles in DeMilner’s adaptation of the classic separately while split into two groups: sea people and land people.

The play, which depicts Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale about a little mermaid who sets out on a perilous quest to win the love of a shipwrecked prince, includes 25 speaking parts and an undersea chorus.

“Not only does the show have a wonderful ocean full of creatures, good and bad, but it also has a shoreline and ships and sailors and songs. It is a ‘meeting of the minds’ story told in a very full-bodied way,” DeMilner said.

In DeMilner’s adaptation of the Walt Disney version, Prince Eric, his servant Grimsby, the sailors and a dog named Max are about to meet a whole world of mermaids and mermen, talking fish, a crabby crustacean and a very evil octopus.

“These two worlds of land and sea collide in two spectacular performances” at 3 and 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 31, in the Rumford Town Hall auditorium on Congress Street, DeMilner said.

DeMilner uses her 23 years as a professional actress, 16 years as a playwright and director, and 10 years as a professional improve comedian, including five years directing the Wingnuts Improv Troupe, to teach children step by step how to become performers.

The play marks DeMilner’s fifth season as director of the Children’s Theatre.

“Some of these kids from all over the River Valley area have been here the whole time. We have some truly talented kids in this area. We have comedians, singers and actors, and though young, their efforts are well worth coming to see for an afternoon or evening,” DeMilner said.

The Rumford Public Library has a long tradition of including theater in its summer programming for children, she added.

Open auditions are held in June for all interested children ages 5 to 16.

“They rehearse throughout the summer, learning lines, songs, dances and acting skills in order to give their community a gift of storytelling. The program has become so popular that for the comfort of the audience, the performances are held in the Rumford Town Hall’s third-floor ballroom,” DeMilner added.

The play is free and open to the public. For more information, phone the Rumford Public Library at 364-3661.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com