Seattle
Children's Theatre To Present
the West Coast Premiere
of Sleeping
Beauty
(Seattle,
WA)- For the holiday season, Seattle Children's Theatre (SCT) will present the
west coast premiere of Sleeping Beauty, written by acclaimed Welsh
playwright Charles Way. SCT's
rendition of Sleeping Beauty features new music by Chad Henry, which
helps bring this story of friendship and family, romance and adventure to life.
SCT Artistic Associate Rita Giomi will direct the production.
Sleeping
Beauty,
recommended for ages five and older, runs December 2 through February 4.
Public performances run Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2
and 5:30 p.m. at Seattle Children's Theatre, located at 201 Thomas Street in
Seattle. Tickets range in price
from $15 to $30 and may be purchased by calling the SCT ticket office at (206)
441-3322 or by visiting www.sct.org.
Way's retelling of Sleeping Beauty originates from the well-loved
fairy tale and maintains its major themes, but features a headstrong princess
and added characters, including Gryff-half man half dragon-and the
riddle-challenging Spider King. In
this classic battle between good and evil, a terrible curse is put on a young
princess, who falls into a 100-year sleep on her 16th birthday.
The only one left awake is a prince who must conquer the forces of evil
and restore happiness to the kingdom with true love's kiss.
"This
script, by the renowned Welsh playwright Charles Way, covers the gamut from the
dramatic to the hilarious with something for everyone, old and young, boy or
girl," said SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell.
"The audience will be transported into a lush and beautiful world
inhabited by spider kings, dragons, witches and fairies."
The
elegant sets for Sleeping Beauty, designed by Carey Wong, are based on
the Pre-Raphaelite art of William Morris and Edward Coley Burne-Jones.
Catherine Hunt's sumptuous costumes are inspired by the paintings of another
Pre-Raphaelite, John William Waterhouse.
Way
began writing plays professionally in 1978 and now has over 40, which are
produced around the world. He has
written many plays for young people, including the classic fairy tales Cinderella,
Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty, and has received several
awards, including the Children's Award given by the Arts Council of England and
three nominations for the Best Children's Play by the Writer's Guild of Great
Britain.
Henry's
music has been heard at a variety of local and regional theatres.
Past productions at SCT include The Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle,
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency and Little Lulu.
"The addition of a musical score, by SCT friend and favorite Chad
Henry, heightens the storytelling, taking us to a deeper and even more
interesting place," said Hartzell.
Sleeping
Beauty was
first produced at The Polka Theatre in London and subsequently traveled to
Johannesburg, Sweden and Russia. The
play had its American premiere at The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis
this summer. In a review, Rohan
Preston of the
Star Tribune in Minneapolis wrote: "This is an
all-around stellar production."
SYNOPSIS
Once
upon a time, in a land far away, two magical sisters, Branwen and Modron, lived
in a wood. These sisters each had
their own way, and powers, but only one of them was good.
Branwen and her loyal servant Gryff, a creature half man and half dragon,
set out to give a gift to the King and Queen, who were disheartened for they
could not have children of their own. Branwen
decided that she would bestow upon them the fair baby, Briar Rose.
Modron,
however, wanted to keep the child for herself, and when it was time for Briar
Rose's christening, she was not invited. This
slight did not go unnoticed; Modron appeared at the festivities bearing a gift
of her own-a curse on the innocent child. Before
night would fall on her 16th birthday, Briar Rose would be doomed to
prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and fall to her death.
With one blessing left for the child, Branwen granted the
family a reprieve; instead of death, the girl would fall into a 100-year sleep.
Only a kiss from her true love would break the spell and release her from
the slumber.
The
King ordered all spinning wheels destroyed and raised his daughter sheltered
behind the castle walls. Briar
Rose's was a lonely life, with only her "imaginary friend" Gryff, a
gift from Branwen, and the confines of the garden for solace.
With her mystical foresight, Branwen sent a young prince to befriend
Briar Rose. Unfortunately, her
choice seemed less than regal-the hapless Prince Owain was bested at all their
games; be they of skill or speed, brain or brawn, he simply didn't excel at
anything.
Then, as the hours left on the curse began to wane, Modron
had her revenge-Briar Rose fell into the deepest of sleeps, with only Owain left
awake to save her. Filled with
trepidation, Owain embarked on the quest, where he met and matched many a foe.
He out-danced the fairies, outwitted the Spider King and mustered enough
courage to slay Modron herself. There
remained but one thing left to do to save Briar Rose-he must give her true
love's kiss.
CAST
AND DESIGN TEAM
The
cast for Sleeping Beauty includes Anne Allgood as Modron, Julie
Briskman as Branwen, Khanh Doan as Briar Rose, Allen Galli as
Gryff, Bobbi Kotula as Queen Guinevere, Kevin C. Loomis as King
Peredur, and MJ Sieber as Prince Owain.
Nicole Boote and Chad Jennings are the understudies.
The
production features choreography by Marianne Roberts, musical direction
and orchestration by David Duvall, set design by Carey Wong,
costume design by Catherine Hunt, light design by Rick Paulsen,
sound design by Chris R. Walker, fight direction by Geoffrey Alm, and
puppet design by Douglas N. Paasch.
A
limited amount of $10 rush tickets will be available Friday nights (except for
opening night) at SCT's ticket office, located at 201 Thomas Street in Seattle.
There will be an American Sign Language interpreted performance of Sleeping
Beauty for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons on Saturday, January 14, at 2
p.m. For tickets, call (206) 441-3322, voice, or (206) 443-6938, TTY.
Seattle
Children's Theatre would like to thank season sponsor Microsoft and show sponsor
Nishino for their generous support of Sleeping Beauty.
Seattle
Children's Theatre, celebrating its 31st season, performs September
through June in the Charlotte Martin and Eve Alvord Theatres at Seattle Center.
Since its inception, SCT has gained acclaim as a leading producer of theatre,
educational programs and new scripts for young people, and was recently listed
in the top five children's theatres in the nation by Time magazine. SCT
has presented 174 plays, 92 of which have been world premieres, and entertained
over 4 million children.
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