Mermaids

Surgeons began a delicate operation late Tuesday on Peru's "little mermaid," a baby born with her legs fused from her thighs to her ankles. The surgery was the first of three planned to repair the rare birth defect. Thirteen-month-old Milagros Cerron giggled and played on her hospital bed ahead of the surgery. She is about the size and weight of a normal 6-month-old. The operation was to last four to six hours, said Dr. Luis Rubio, leader of a team of 11 surgeons.

Francesca Zambello, noted for her 20-year career directing grand opera, aims to branch onto Broadway, having been enlisted by Disney Theatricals to direct its stage adaptation of the 1989 Disney film, "The Little Mermaid." A Disney spokesman on Wednesday confirmed a Variety report that Zambello has taken over as director of the musical, which is still being developed, with no production date set.

Copenhagen will stage a musical based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" next year, with 650 amateurs dancing and singing in a huge floating theater. The musical, Denmark's biggest theatrical event ever, will mark the 200th anniversary of the fairy-tale writer's birth. Denmark will celebrate Andersen, who died in 1875, with hundreds of events, parties and festivals.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Alex Bacos has a big heart -- and mouth to match. As a guidance counselor and testing coordinator at Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, Bacos knew last May how hard it can be to get 2,400 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to commit to anything, let alone preparing for the Stanford 9 test. He needed a hook, a gag, a shtick -- something really over the top -- to get his students pumped for pulling up their scores on the three-day statewide exam.

Girl software. Boy software. What's up with that? Some children's software titles are created with just one gender in mind. Mattel's "Matchbox Caterpillar Adventures in Time" is clearly a boy title and will appeal to little guys who love trucks. Disney's "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" is a girl title because it features female characters from "The Little Mermaid" movies and has activities that girls will find interesting.

If you are around the house with young children to entertain at the end of this long holiday weekend, you might consider taking in the afternoon performance of "The Little Mermaid" at the Excalibur Theater in Studio City. The show is a trip in itself, consisting of scenes set underwater, on land and in the sky. There are storms and monsters, and although the cast consists of only 10 members, they evoke creature-filled undersea realms and castles full of courtiers.

The 1998 foray by Englishman Bragg and American band Wilco into the vast vaults of Woody Guthrie's "lost" lyrics to construct new songs was an extremely rewarding side trip. This follow-up might be even better. They're even more comfortable with the territory, crafting music that is stamped with their own identities yet always serving Guthrie's words perfectly. Arguably, Wilco shines brighter this time, both backing Bragg and in its own spotlight songs.

Sink or swim. For Scott Lane, adapting characters as beloved as Ariel and Sebastian the crab was daunting enough. But Disney on Ice's "The Little Mermaid" (opening Christmas Day at the Arrowhead Pond) was also the L.A. costume designer's first attempt at an ice show. "I know the lines of 'The Little Mermaid' by heart, like any good little 4-year-old," said the 38-year-old Lane. "I wore one tape out."