What I liked
The Cast: Across the board, this cast worked very hard for the show, with poise and skill and talent. VERY well done, all of you. There are some real standouts in the group that deserve mention:
- Bree Pavey (Minnie) – not only our narrator but a smart, savvy portrayal that grew throughout the production in ways that were unexpected and enjoyable.
- Cameron Britton (Bob) – one of my FAVORITE male characters this entire Fringe season, the foolish stage hand portrayal could do no wrong and literally EVERY choice he made was inspired. EVERY choice.
- Lauren Sperling – that many characters? You are to be commended. I didn’t realize they were all you. Never even crossed my mind until I was looking at the program afterwards. Well done.
The Writing/Directing : The strength of the characters also comes from the writing and directing, and Mitch Rosander’s ability to do such with strength and focus is clear throughout. This is a strong, clear show through most of the play—and his strengths clearly gave the actors the chance to make the most of this show. You’ve done a great job, Mitch.
What I didn't like
The show’s too long for me. Probably one or two princesses too long, or maybe the scenes with the Princesses themselves simply took too long. One way or another, I felt like the show ended up needing to probably be an hour or 70 minutes instead of what it ended up being.
It’s not that I disliked anything I saw—the humor was great, the characters strong. It just was longer than it needed to be. It just felt like once we had the premise “they need to be married or there’s a curse”, that sets the ball rolling…and the ball needs to roll faster. It took too long for it to actually MOVE.
My overall impression
A goofy comedy that makes fun of fairy tales and is a parody? Sign me up, please! Welcome to the Princes Charming, the feelingist-goodiest fairy-tailiest comedy happening during this Fringe season. And believe me, there is a lot to feel good about in this show and a lot of fun to be had in this tale. So let’s begin…
Once upon a time there was a Fool. His name was Bob. Bob wanted to be a stagehand in the theatre, so he got a job for a show called “The Princes Charming”. But being a fool, he wandered onto the show’s stage while the performance was underway and immediately stole the show from the rest of the cast.
Wait, strike that. Let’s start again!
Once upon a time, there was a King named Charming who had two sons—who were, by definition, Princes. The first Prince had diamonds in his pockets (that’s lots of bread, now).
Wait, strike that. Third time’s the charm!
Once upon a time, there were two Princes named Charming. Their father wanted to give his throne to one of them but was worried about a curse that he believed would pass on to his sons—so wanted them both to marry. That’s the story of this production.
So why did I start with the Tale of Bob the Fool and Stagehand? Because in a production full of fantastic actors and characters, Cameron Britton’s portrayal of Bob is without question the standout of the show. Every time he walks on stage, the show revolves around him.
But not to the point where the rest of this twisted fairy tale is lost. No, we get fantastic twists on several Disney princesses (and even one who’s not). We get two Prince Charmings whose transformations as they fall in love are a sheer joy to behold as it equates into an awakening of understanding. We get a narrator/minstrel whose carefully controlled telling of the tale keeps us, the audience, exactly in as much dark as we need—and then does the same to the characters.
It’s all in great, great fun. And that’s exactly what I had. An enormous amount of fun watching what felt like a great cast having a GREAT deal of joy performing a show that they really, truly love performing. And that level of joy is infectious—it spreads through the audience until we’re all grinning from ear to ear. And guess what? That is exactly what happened.
So come see this show. Unless you hate grinning from ear-to-ear.
