There is only about a month out of the year where we don’t have kids here at the theatre rehearsing their next show, and that time is about to come to an end this week with auditions for our upcoming Acting Up production of HAPPILY EVER BEFORE. Like the kids’ near-constant presence in our auditorium, fairy-tale adaptations are frequent visitors to the youth stage.

The same things that make these stories instantly accessible to a wide audience—familiar characters and situations, clear-cut heroes and villains, a happy ending with a strong or obvious moral—are what can sometimes make them stale and predictable. That’s why, when we do choose to bring these adaptations to the stage, we always look for a fun twist or surprising change to the stories.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN, PRIVATE EYE offered a film noir take on these storybook characters, Villain School transported the baddies to a Hogwarts-like setting, and THE STINKY CHEESE MAN brought a modern, offbeat humor to the tales. HAPPILY EVER BEFORE offers a new spin by adding time travel to the mix.

If your children are in grades 5-8, we hope you’ll consider signing them up for another fun semester of Acting Up. Auditions are this Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 2:30 p.m. Or, if you’re just looking for another exciting subversion of the fairy-tale genre, join us Nov. 11-13 as we bring HAPPILY EVER BEFORE to the stage.

Tyler Rinne

Associate Artistic Director