Archive: Arts & Entertainment

It's dangerous to want to marry a princess.  If you can't learn their secret their father will sentence you to death.  Plenty of suitors have failed before, but the hero of 'Twelve Dancing Princesses', at Lansing Middle School this weekend, has a secret weapon: a somewhat doddering, but friendly fairy godmother.  If he learns the secret he can choose from among the king's twelve daughters.  Telling much more of the plot would be a spoiler, so you'll have to see for yourself.  The Middle School drama opened on Wednesday, but still plays through tomorrow (Saturday, May 8th) night.

"It's an adaptation from the Brothers Grimm," says director Audrey Hummel, who is the Family & Consumer Science teacher at the Middle School.  "It was a three page story, and the playwright decided to give all the princesses a distinctive personality.  So they're not just one big lump."

Hummel has been working with two casts since February.  Each cast includes 27 students, with only three playing the same role in both. 

"It's hard double-casting because of the time constraints," Hummel says.  "Each cast has less time on stage, but I think they pulled together.  They realized they could each have a part if they did it this way."

This is Hummel's third time in the Director's chair at the middle school.  She was assisted by Dana Robson (assistant director), Jessica Angle (set design) and Peter Boskano (lights).

'Twelve Dancing Princesses' runs tonight and tomorrow at 7pm.




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