Fairy Tales and Theatre

Theatrical interpretations of fairy tales are some of the most common results in my habitual news searches. From small, local theatres to universities to off-Broadway and Broadway, there's a plethora of fairy tale related performances around the world every week. It's impossible to mention them all, but some sound so very intriguing that I'm always tempted to flood this blog with descriptions, links and reviews. Instead, I've decided to occasionally offer one blog with several short descriptions and links unless something appears to merit its own entry.

Here we go:

Down the Rabbit Hole: "Written entirely in Def-Jam Poetry, spoken word, verse and music, this one-woman musical, featuring 10 female fairy tale characters, poses the question, 'Does Happily Ever After Really Exist?'" An off-Broadway presentation in New York.

Briar Rose: The Tale of Sleeping Beauty: "The play is a musical based on various versions of traditional ‘Sleeping Beauty’ stories. Most of the story involves the villainous characters, Avarice (the evil fairy) and her minions, Vice and Versa." Already presented, this one is being shopped for new productions in New York and/or New Jersey.

Antonín Dvorák’s Rusalka: The first ever production of Antonín Dvorák’s Rusalka in Norway.

Tchaikovsky’s The Tsarina's Slippers: Rarely produced, this one is presented at the Royal Opera House in London this fall.

Matinee Magic Series: North Carolina Dance Theatre’s 2009-2010 Matinee Magic Series offers three family-friendly matinees. Designed especially for children's delight, the world premiere of Mark Diamond’s Once Upon A Time, September 19 and 20, opens the Matinee Magic Series. Other performances in this series will include Nutcracker in December and Cinderella in March.

Once Upon A Time begins with a grandfather reading classic bedtime stories to his young granddaughter. When the grandfather begins to fall asleep, the young girl’s imagination starts to run wild as her favorite fairy tale characters spring to life. The stories include “The Frog Prince,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Peter Pan.”

The Crumb Trail: "As the story goes, hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children, Hansel and Gretel. Um, then there's some stuff about starvation, child abandonment, kidnapping, cannibalism -- the usual bedtime fare for the kiddies. Surely you know this one. But you probably don't know it in anything like the way it's shown through the fractured, variable-focus viewfinder of "The Crumb Trail," a piece of intriguingly odd experimental theater by the Irish troupe Pan Pan Theatre, playing for four nights in the Time-Based Art Festival."

Little Red in the Hood: "“Little Red in the Hood” will be performed on Sept. 12 at the Dothan Opera House. This modern version, which is also a musical, tells the story of Little Red and her best friend, Ayanna, and their efforts to clean up their neighborhood, which has been overtaken by trash and “thugs.” The thugs are led by a man known as the Wolf." (Dothan, Alabama)

The Little Caribbean Mermaid and the Enchanted Ring: "The Little Caribbean Mermaid and the Enchanted Ring combines all the romance of a beloved fairytale with the hilarious elements of a traditional pantomime. The musical comedy tells the tale of Benjamin, a lobster fisherman's son who dreams of finding a great treasure under the sea. During his hunt he meets a beautiful mermaid and quickly falls in love, but the young sweethearts are from very different worlds. Their answer may lie with the Enchanted Ring they find, but there is someone much more sinister looking for the ring too." (This one particularly appealed to me through the interviews with the actors who have a great sense of humor and camraderie: "I can't wait until the panto is a success and the TCFAF decides to do the whole thing again on ice!")