Disenchanted
book, music and lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino
directed by Fiely A. Matias
produced by Westside Theatre
June 14, 2015
💉💉💉 out of 5.
Six women play dozen’s of Disney Princesses in this adult comedy and send-up of all that is Disney and much of what is female in countless bedtime stories.
The result is super sweet, a bit naughty and truly captivating. My imagination was kept for the entire short 90 minutes of the play – grateful of course that they didn’t overwork the bit for another hour.
As the musical asks, I found myself wondering why almost every happily-ever-after – – involves finding that certain someone, Can’t a hard won happily-ever-after be just as sweet and rewarding on your own. I am NOT a Disney person and certainly not a Princess fan – but now I understand their appeal and danger to a young audience.
Not to sound too jaded, I have grown a bit tired of Neil Labute. His plays seem to relentlessly focus on broken people making poor choices and stepping on a lot of feelings in the process. But this play was different for me. This play was sexy. You have that delicious human drama of waking up the morning after the night you can’t really remember doing the thing that you are oh, so unsure of. Who hasn’t been there? Continue reading The Way We Get By→
I have seen this play and loved it both times. This is a perfect example of using expressionism to really get inside the life of an autistic boy and yet still be meaningful to the audience. What struck me both times about seeing this play is PLAY: the wonderful, joyous practice of play that we adults abandon way to early for our own good. When is the last time that someone grabbed you by the waist and helped you play rocket ship around the living room? When is the last time someone held you above your head threatening to send you plunging into the bed below? Autistic or not – – why in the hell did we ever give up our sense of play? Continue reading Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time→
senchanted
Ethel Barrymore Theatre – June 13, 2016