Children's Theatre casts 'Spell of Sleeping Beauty' in Dover

DOVER — A cast of 36 young actors brings “The Spell of Sleeping Beauty” to life, as The Children’s Theatre presents a version of the classic fairy tale this weekend at the Schwartz Center for the Arts.

It all takes place in the kingdom of Never Nod, where there’s a celebration going on because a princess, named Briar-Rose, has been born to the king and queen.

But a nasty witch, Evilina — who lives in Tumbledown Castle with a spider and a cat for companions — is not invited. She shows up anyway and pronounces her revenge: At age 16, the princess will cut her finger on a spinning wheel, fall into a deep sleep and never wake up.

Some good witches, meanwhile, counter the curse by saying Briar-Rose can be awakened by the kiss of true love, and the king bans all spinning wheels. Evilina is not so easily defeated, though, and on that fateful birthday, the princess does, indeed, cut her finger.

It’s up to Prince Alexander to come to her rescue, via battles with a wall of thorns, a false princess and Dark Knight.

This weekend’s staging was adapted by Vera Morris from the familiar Brothers Grimm “Sleeping Beauty” story.

Jennifer Snyder, who directs The Children’s Theatre show with her husband, Ben Snyder, said the cast members, ages 8-16, are having a blast.

“It’s been a fun play for them. It’s actually a lot funnier than I originally thought when I was looking through it, and the kids have added so much of their own personalities and creativity to it,” she said.

However, the large group has been a challenge for Ms. Snyder.

“It was really only written for 30, although you could go even less. But so many kids auditioned for it. We had over 50 kids audition, and originally, I had planned on only casting 30, but it’s so hard to cut kids,” she said.

“So, I added good witches in, and I added court members in. One thing I liked about this play was that it is flexible, and it has these characters that you can add in. So, I wrote in lines for all these extra kids.”

Ms. Snyder’s daughter, Noelle Snyder, 16, of Dover, is the only actor who was in the show when The Children’s Theatre last performed it eight years ago. She played White Good Witch then and portrays Briar-Rose now.

“I see her as very clueless and kind of kept away from the outside world, and she feels as if she’s treated as a child. But she’s also very happy and extremely kind and very much like a Disney princess,” Noelle said.

The play is filled with fight scenes and other bits of choreography, especially for Jackson Gibbs, 14, of Dover, who plays Prince Alexander.

“It’s not super advanced,” he said of the moves. “You’re set forward and swing. But you’ve got to be in rhythm with the other person; otherwise, you’re actually going to get hit by a sword.”

Noelle added that she likes the tale’s humor.

“There are a lot of funny scenes, especially when Prince Alexander turns into a frog and starts hopping around. It’s pretty, pretty funny,” she said.

Haley Attalian, 14, of Smyrna, plays Evilina, while Kylee Lensie, 12, of Magnolia, plays her spider, and Ellie O’Brien, 11, of Dover, is the witch’s cat. The three have a few fun scenes together.

“I cast (Kylee and Ellie as) the spider and the cat because they could dance and do gymnastics, and they’ve brought a lot of that into their character. The cat’s doing flips, and the spider is doing ballet moves. That trio has really jelled, and they just kind of feed off of each other with their characters,” Ms. Snyder said.

Haley said Evilina, while mean, also has a sympathetic side.

“She’s very evil. But, also, I feel like she’s hurt, too, because all she wanted was to get invited to the party. That’s all she wanted. I feel like, if she had gotten invited, it would have turned out just a tiny bit differently,” she said.

“She takes her anger in the wrong way to hurt this child, and that is terrible. But I feel like she’s kind of misunderstood.”

For Ellie, it’s been entertaining playing the cat.

“My character is definitely very cynical and sarcastic. I love how my character is not afraid to stand up and talk mean,” she said. “I’m on the evil side, but I also kind of want to be good. I also get to do a lot of gymnastics tricks because I’m pretty bendy.”

Meantime, Kylee is participating in her last show at The Children’s Theatre because her family is moving. Though this is just her third production, she said she will miss it and especially her two scene partners.

“I met them both on the first day of my first show, and they really brought me into the theater, and I’m just happy that I get to go out with them,” she said.

“The Spell of Sleeping Beauty” is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The Schwartz Center is at 226 S. State St.

In addition, there will be a Royal Tea Reception with characters and refreshments at noon Sunday at the Schwartz. Tickets are $25, which include admission to that day’s show. Online registration is required.

Admission for the show alone is $10.

Visit tctde.booktix.com or thechildrenstheatreinc.org to obtain show or Royal Tea tickets.

Tickets to the play will also be available at the door.