"The Light Princess" (A.R.T. Institute) Flies Into New Victory Theater

Poster from original production by A.R.T.

It's so interesting to see all the different stage versions of this fairy tale. George MacDonald's fairy tales (full text of The Light Princess is HERE) seems to have come back into public consciousness again in recent years with Twyla Tharp's work (contemporary dance), Tori Amos' musical theater adaptation (the photos look amazing! I will have to do a catch up post...) and now the A.R.T. Institute are presenting their version.

Note: this is one of many current family theater offerings advertising their "sensory friendliness" so for sensitive children and kids dealing with autism, this is produced to be as enjoyable for all as possible.

From the press release:

Can a girl who can’t fall at all, fall in love? The Light Princess follows the journey of a young princess cursed to live without gravity in a new musical from A.R.T. Institute.  

Funny, romantic and buoyed by whimsical original songs, The Light Princess is an enchanting tale for all ages, running at The New Victory Theater from February 27th to March 8th, 2015.

In this delightful musical by writing duo Lila Rose Kaplan (Wildflower, Second Stage Theater; Biography of a Constellation, 2009 National Science Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center) and Mike Pettry (2012 ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Award winner for musical theater and a 2007 Jonathan Larson Award winner), two witty wisemen sing a story of a young princess cursed by a wicked witch to float through life indefinitely.

With direction by Allegra Libonati, The Light Princess comes from a widely lauded and popular run at the acclaimed American Repertory Theater (Artistic Director, Diane Paulus). Accompanied by live, onstage music and cleverly choreographed byJeffrey Kuperman and Rick Kuperman, our young heroine twirls above the stage, through the kingdom and into a magical forest as she searches for a way to come back to earth by her sixteenth birthday (or be doomed to defy gravity forever!).

Based on the nineteenth-century Scottish fairy tale by George MacDonald, The Light Princess features actors from the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.

Here's the entertaining trailer. It certainly looks like a lot of fun for actors and audience!

I like this trailer from A.R.T.'s production the year before as well. It gives a different overview (and the actors will be different), but if you're not familiar with the story or production , this may fill in some gaps:

The performances run from February 27th through to March 8th, 2015 and the The New Victory Theater in New York, NY.

More information and tickets can be found HERE.

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Here's a lovely illustration of The Light Princess by Alteya of deviantArt.