Kiss your windows goodbye; Prince Boris is about to sing.
Boris (Cameron Worthen) is one of three not-so-talented princes who fall awfully short of impressing Princess Alexandra in the Children’s Theatre Festival’s production of The Princess Who Could Not Be Heard.
Regardless of whether Boris possesses true talent, his efforts are in vain as his serenade falls on deaf ears. The Princess (Hannah Alcorn) is hearing impaired and relies on sign language to express herself and communicate with others.
Alcorn said that the purpose of her character is to promote the acceptance of the handicapped and that preparing for the role took quite a bit of time.
"I had a sign language coach, (Renata Santoro). It was a lot of work," Alcorn said.
Now in its 29th season, the Children’s Theatre Festival stages original and classic plays every summer that are designed to delight the younger crowd. The Princess Who Could Not Be Heard is an original musical written by the Director of the School of Theatre ‘ Dance and co-founder of the festival Sidney Berger and award-winning composer Jerry Bock.
"This is a serious subject, but the story is very light-hearted," Berger said in a release. "Any time you have songs written by the great Jerry Bock, it’s going to be a fantastic time for audiences of all ages."
The performance begins with Silvius (Jeff Barba), filling the audience with laughter as he sings, signs and introduces the King (Matt Lusk), the Queen (Susan Draper) and the Princess.
The inability of the King and Queen to sign prevents them from communicating directly with their daughter. Silvius interprets while the King and Queen make vain attempts to find a suitor for the Princess. Three hilarious princes visit the palace and perform a talent with the hope that the Princess will be their bride. Instead, they are disappointments and drive her away from the palace and into the company of the Cirque de la Lune, a group of traveling circus performers.
Among these sword-swallowing, weight-lifting, tightrope-walking performers Princess Alexandra finds real acceptance and her true love.
She becomes fascinated with Mark (Tony Johnson), a tightrope walker who also performs on the trapeze. He teaches her to walk the tightrope, making his stage partner Malinda (Cynthia Godell) very jealous. The enraged entertainer storms away to devise a scheme to ruin this newfound love.
The humor and silliness of each character keeps the momentum of the musical going. From Silvius bouncing around the stage in his brightly colored suit to the frustrated king who begs for a slice of cake after a long day, the laughs do not end.
The music by Bock contributes greatly with a fun and energetic fairytale feel. Colorful costumes covered in glitter are also an asset, and costume designer Claremarie Verheyen gave the King, Queen and Princess that royal touch as they moved throughout the brightly colored set with sparkling crowns and jewelry.
After the vivid performance, excited children waited in line to receive autographs from Godell, Alcorn and Cameron Dunbar (Prince Louis/ Duke).
The Princess Who Could Not Be Heard runs through June 29 at the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre. Up next on the Festival’s stage is Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which begins July 13.
