The singing actor will join the Broadway cast of The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre March 10 and will play the role of Chef Louis through May 3. (Smagula is filling in for Robert Creighton, who will be on a leave of absence to perform Cagney! in Florida. The role was originally created onstage by John Treacy Egan.)

Smagula has also been seen on Broadway To Be or Not To Be, The Phantom of the Opera, Man of La Mancha and The Full Monty as well as the Encores! Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees. His screen credits include "The IT Factor," "The Sopranos," "Law and Order," "Law and Order: SVU", "10-8," "The Job," "The Island" and "The Producers."

"In a magical kingdom beneath the sea," according to Mermaid production notes, "a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father — the king of the sea — escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice." The musical is based on both the Disney animated film (written and directed by John Musker & Ron Clements) and the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

The Little Mermaid features songs penned by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman for the Disney film ("Part of Your World," "Under the Sea," "Kiss the Girl," among others) as well as ten new tunes by Menken and Glenn Slater. Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens) wrote the book.

The creative team includes Francesca Zambello (direction), Stephen Mear (choreography), George Tsypin (scenic design), Tatiana Noginova (costume design), Natasha Katz (lighting design), John Shivers (sound design), Angelina Avallone (makeup design), Sven Ortel (projection and video design) and David Brian Brown (hair design). Associate producer is Todd Lacy. Fight director is Rick Sordelet. Technical director is David Benken. Production supervisor is Clifford Schwartz. Dance arrangements are by David Chase, music coordinator is Michael Keller, orchestrations are by Danny Troob. Music direction, incidental music and vocal arrangements are by Michael Kosarin.

Disney Theatrical Productions is under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.

Tickets for the musical are available by calling (212) 307-4747 or by visiting the Lunt-Fontanne box office at 205 West 46th Street.

For more information visit Walt Disney Theatricals at www.disneyonbroadway.com.