"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.

Tori Amos' "The Light Princess" Starts Rehearsals (+ Film Making Comp To Win Tickets!)

Do you remember a little post from a few years ago, mentioning Tori Amos was composing lyrics and a score for George MacDonald's fairy tale The Light Princess*? Well the show is finally complete, started rehearsals a couple of days ago and is due to open in the National Theater, London, this September 25th (2013). And yes: You can now buy tickets!

All the official information and ticket links are HERE.

Press release:

Once, in opposing kingdoms lived a princess and a prince who had lost their mothers. Althea, unable to cry, became light with grief and floated, and so was locked away. Digby became so heavy-hearted that he could never smile, and so was trained as a warrior. 

One day, he declares war. Althea is forced out of hiding and down to ground but, in defiance of her father, she escapes, only to encounter the solemn prince on contested land. Beside a lake the warring heirs begin a passionate and illicit affair. But for Althea to find real love, she must first confront the world’s darkness and face her own deepest fears. 

The Light Princess brings together iconic singer-songwriter Tori Amos with playwright Samuel Adamson and directorMarianne Elliott (Curious Incident) in this spectacular coming-of-age story. A dark fairytale about grief, rebellion and the power of love. 

I’m done, Father,Keep your crown,I swear you’ll never bring me down!I am not queen material!

The cast went into rehearsals on Monday (August 5th, 2013) and are tweeting their experiences! Check the latest tweets HERE (no account required). Sounds like they're having a ball and like it will be a great show too.

We now also have some details about the show and how Ms. Amos adapted the fairy tale for a modern audience.
✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

Tori Amos and The Light Princess

NOTE: My apologies to my email subscribers who got this post in their inbox without any content earlier today!

Singer-songwriter Tori Amos, who's music is famously "fairy tale influenced" is well into development on a new musical based on a short story fairy tale by George MacDonald: "The Light Princess".

If you're not aware of the story it's a short, funny tale (with lots of puns and tongue in cheek) about a gravity-deficient princess who has trouble falling into/in anything! (She was cursed at a christening by someone who was forgotten from the invitation list- of course).

With chapter titles such as:
"Won't I Just?", "She Can't Be Ours.", "She Laughs Too Much", "Try Metaphysics" and "Try a Drop of Water", you can see there's a lot of 'levity' to this tale.

You can read the story HERE, hear the story HERE and for those interested in studying the form and metaphor of the story further there's an essay by Elmer Schenke available to read online that discusses the story called "ANTIGRAVITY: MATTER AND THE IMAGINATION IN GEORGE MACDONALD AND EARLY SCIENCE FICTION" - you can read that HERE.

But back to the musical.

From the independent.co.uk:

It figures that Amos, 45, once dubbed "Queen of the Fairies", should be attracted by a story about a princess whose lack of gravity causes her to float above the world. But as the North Carolina-born singer and pianist points out, MacDonald's fantastical allegory has substance and a malleable, enduring resonance, the princess's "lightness" being a vehicle for Amos to explore modern-day illnesses such as anorexia, and other elements of MacDonald's work lending themselves to environmental themes.

This being Amos, we can expect the work (which she hopes to complete by 2010) to be packed with feminist ideas. "The thing about the original story I wasn't crazy about is that the princess's disability gets blamed on an old hag," she says. "We're not going to deal in spells cast by old ladies; we're dealing with problems caused by power and greed, many of which start with men."

This sounds like a weighty interpretation of a story in which humor is integral to both the telling and the tale so I'm curious as to how Tori balances those elements in her version. She's working with writer Samuel Adamson on the story and has already written a few of the songs for her feminist retelling of the story.

Again, from the independent.co.uk:

Amos says some of the music in the piece is Wagnerian in approach, while one song, "Delectable Guy Pain", was partly inspired by the Shirley Bassey hit "Big Spender". There's an aria for the princess that Amos likens to a darker take on "Memory" from Cats. "Whatever you think of Andrew Lloyd Webber, he knows what he's doing with a melodic arc," she adds.

(You can read the whole of the long article, which discuss Tori's current projects and releases HERE.)

Here's Tori on adapting to the different style of working, with the people from National Theater (from spinner.com):

"It seems to be a full-time commitment," she says of the musical. "I've never written for other people before. Writing for a company and researching their characters, understanding how they speak, working closely with the playwright ... I've never experienced anything quite like it before. The collaboration process that I have when I'm making records is that the material is written and then you're working on arrangements. With 'The Light Princess,' another scene might be written or added or changed, which then will mean that a completely different set of songs have to be written for that scene. I like to work, so I don't mind how much work it takes. I'm not saying I'll never write another one. I'm enjoying it. But if you're writing a musical, you better like your collaborators. I happen to get along with them very well."

You can learn more about Tori Amos, read lyrics from her songs and see lots of lovely things HERE at her website.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this musical turns out!