True Love Put to the Test in "The Enchanted Pig"

Does the story of the woman who wore out three pairs of iron shoes, looking for her true love sound familiar? The tale is "The Enchanted Pig", a Romanian fairy tale. It has much in common with "East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon" and a critically acclaimed family-friendly, musical theatre/opera production is currently playing at the New Victory Theater in New York.Here's the promo blurb:

Once Upon a Time, three princesses unlocked a secret door... and opened a grand adventure.

In this off-beat and funny fairytale of an opera, beauty meets the beast once again when Princess Flora, the youngest of three gangly, gum-chewing sisters, learns her betrothed is a boar. Swept off to the north, she discovers (of course!) that her hoggy hubby is hexed and only she can break the spell. Follow Flora from palace to pigsty in this twisty tale of mud and marriage. Sometimes, a girl's just gotta go out and rescue the prince for herself.

The review from Theater Mania has a good synopsis:

The show, by Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton, has a playful, cheeky beginning that lures the audience in to what will eventually become a story of romantic heroism. Three princesses get the key to a forbidden room in their father's castle. There, they find the Book of Fate, which decrees the oldest daughter will marry the Prince of the West; the middle daughter will marry the Prince of the East; and the Youngest Daughter will marry a Pig (amusingly stated as "From the North").

When the horrific Pig/Man (Simon Wilding) arrives to demand his wife, the light tone of the musical takes a sharp right turn into the viscerally dark. The youngest princess leaves with the Pig, crying all the way. At night, the Pig turns into a handsome prince, who explains he's under a witch's curse, and if she is just patient and trusting, her love can save him. Except she isn't patient and trusting; she wants what she wants and she wants it now. When her attempt at immediately overturning the curse on her husband backfires, she learns that the only way she can win him back is to travel to the ends of the earth and wear out three pairs of iron shoes before she will ever see him again.

By now, she is so much in love with her Pig that she will, in fact, wear out three pairs of iron shoes, travel to the source of the North Wind, as well as the Moon and the Sun (all represented in human form by members of the company). And finally, she will have to win away her spouse from an evil witch who intends to marry the handsome prince off to her extraordinarily spoiled daughter.

You can read more about the production HERE and YouTube has a couple of trailers if you're interested in a preview.

"The Enchanted Pig" has been a hit since its first run in 2006, continuously touring the UK ever since. The current production at the New Victory Theater in New York, USA, runs till February 21st, 2010. You can find schedule and ticket info (the prices are very reasonable) HERE.

If you live in New York, this sounds like a fun Valentine's show. All you'll need is to find somewhere for dinner. :)