Preview
THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS
Blue Collar Dance Company
Starring Jamie Tognazzini, Grant Tilly and Donald Jones
Written by Joe Slabe
Directed by Marilyn Potts
Produced and choreographed by Tara Blue
Runs October 3 to 19
Engineered Air Theatre (CPA)
Tara Blue has always known that if she choreographed a fairy tale, it would be an irreverent one.
The founder and artistic director of Calgary’s Blue Collar Dance Company aims to produce shows that are unpretentious, entertaining and often laced with humour. So when she set out to create a new musical for families, she thought Robert Munsch’s Canadian classic The Paper Bag Princess would be ideal material. She was "jazzed" when the author gave his approval for the project.
Published in 1980 and reprinted more than 40 times, The Paper Bag Princess is a cheeky children’s story that subverts sexist fairy-tale conventions. In it, the brave and self-reliant princess – who dons a paper bag when her clothes get torched by a dragon – outwits the dragon, rescues the prince and ultimately dumps the ungrateful bum when he complains about her appearance.
"If you compare it to traditional fairy tales like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker, this is fun and spunky," says Blue. "It’s got a bit of an attitude and that’s what I believe my company’s all about."
Blue, a University of Calgary dance grad who is in her mid-30s, didn’t grow up with the Munsch best-seller, but became a fan as an adult. "We all have it within ourselves to be the hero – that’s the main thing about the story that I really like," she says.
"Even if you don’t have the nicest clothes or the prettiest hair, and the dragon burnt up your clothes… you still have yourself."
The musical features a six-member cast, with 19-year-old Jamie Tognazzini starring in the title role. A three-member band accompanies the show with live music. Since the Munsch book takes less than five minutes to read aloud, the tale required fleshing out into a one-hour production. Joe Slabe wrote the script and composed the musical numbers, in styles ranging from Motown and rap to flamenco and jazz. Marilyn Potts directs and Blue plays the role of a lady in waiting.
How did a costume designer recreate the fearsome dragon from Michael Martchenko’s well-known illustrations? Designers Jen Darbellay and Julie Elkiw, says Blue, have fashioned an amazing green get-up, complete with a headpiece that allows the dragon to spew special-effects smoke. It doesn’t hurt that Donald Jones, who plays the jive-talkin’ dragon, is a towering six-feet, five-inches tall.
Blue hopes the show will have a touring life after its Calgary run, and that children and grown-ups will be equally engaged by it. "Some of my favourite movies are ones like Shrek and Monsters Inc. To me, if you can make it truthful for kids and entertaining for adults as well, that’s where the real magic happens." |
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