Wildly wicked and ever so irreverent, the truth is finally being revealed about a slew of fairy tale princesses. Off come the rosy pink glasses. Throw away the glass slippers and grind up all the poisoned apples. Don't even think of interrogating the Seven Dwarfs. The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts is ready to set the record honestly and banish all your illusions from Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2 when the mischievous musical "Disenchanted!" with book, music and lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino rocks into Hartford.
Forget everything you know about Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel as well as their sisterhood that includes The Little Mermaid, Belle, Mulan, Pocahontas and Princess Badroulbadour (Aladdin's bride). It's now the twenty-first century and adult audiences are ready for some hard and clear facts and these feisty ladies, with or without tiaras, are ready to dish it out.
The musical roots are grounded in a history lesson the playwright Giacino was preparing for a class of students. He was disturbed by the version of Pocahontas Disney-style that was being offered and he strove to musically, tongue-in-cheek, set the record straight. He wanted to see her as a genuine Native American heroine and not a "pin-up vixen of the silver screen." If he could polish up one image, why not take on the whole stable of princesses in the process? Thus "Disenchanted!" sprang to life.
At the Bushnell, six outspoken gals will tackle all the well loved tales: Miriam Drysdale, Madison Hayes-Crook, Merritt Crews, Ann Paula Bautista, Daniella Richards and Amelia Hironaka, under the imaginative direction of Christopher Bond.
Be prepared to witness a makeover that will cause these ladies to proudly strut their stories, providing the lowdown facts about the "happily ever after" myths. Rapunzel is not the only gal to let down her hair. Toss out the stereotypes and see these girls for who and what they are: awesome and able to dictate their own destiny. Do they need to live in a castle and ride off into the sunset on a white horse with a prince? Heck, no! Apparently no topic related to females is off limits so don't be shocked by the subjects they dissect, discuss and complain about openly.
For tickets ($58.50-83.50), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Toss the tiaras, ditch the Disney images, forget the promises of happily ever afters and let these rebels strip down to their essential essences for the adult versions of what happens behind the castle doors.
No comments:
Post a Comment