DISENCHANTED! Comes to Minneapolis' Illusion Theater, Now thru 11/23

DISENCHANTED! is a new musical that gives fairytales the bird! The original fairytale princesses are none too happy with the exploitation they've suffered in today's films, books and merchandise. Snow White and her angry band of storybook friends are "storming the castle" in order to take their lives back! Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Hua Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and The Princess Who Kissed the Frog unite at Minneapolis' Illusion Theater, Oct. 31 - Nov. 23, 2014 (preview tonight, Oct. 30).

Answering the question, "What happens after 'Happily Ever After?", DISENCHANTED! was first performed at the Orlando Fringe Festival in 2011 (Best of the Fringe!). Since then, audiences in Tampa, San Diego, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Alexandria, Minn., have experienced sold-out performances of the empowering message of DISENCHANTED!

Casting Spells Productions first brought this hilarious princess comedy to Minneapolis in Fall 2013 and most recently sold out a week of performances this summer at Theatre L'Homme Dieu in Alexandria, Minn., to standing ovations and raving audience accolades. Minneapolis audiences have a rare treat to see the show before audiences in NYC do! The OFF- BROADWAY premiere of DISENCHANTED! has been announced for Nov. 26 in New York City - three days after this show closes!

Mark Bergren, well known in the Twin Cites as former artistic director of Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop, and in Orlando as a show director and writer for Walt Disney Entertainment directs DISENCHANTED! He joins James Detmar, local actor, director and writer (providing Musical Staging) and Michael Shann, former Disney executive and producer of the Closing Ceremonies of the XXII Winter Olympic Games, to make up Casting Spells Productions LLC. Raymond Berg, 2007 and 2013 Ivey Awards winner for Music Direction, and Lori Dokken are music directors.

DISENCHANTED! is the rare musical comedy that's not afraid to tackle big, hot-button issues while it keeps the audience rolling in the aisles with laughter. Through music and comedy, the show cleverly addresses such topics as race (where The Princess Who Kissed the Frog points out that it took animated movies over 70 years to welcome an African-American princess to the fold), diet issues (as Cinderella bemoans the concept of skinny princesses in the song "All I Wanna Do Is Eat"), the Princess Complex (in which The Little Mermaid can't believe she gave up her undersea life - her father, her friends, not to mention her gills & fin - just to net a man), and Hua Mulan (who points out that she's no less valid a princess just because she doesn't have a man in her life in the ballad, "Without The Guy").

For example, Mulan's story arc in DISENCHANTED! takes the fabled Chinese warrior on a funny yet poignant coming out story in which she goes from questioning to realization to acceptance of her sexuality. DISENCHANTED! brings this diverse group of women together on one stage in which, by the musical's end, they sing that those old, worn-out tales of weak, helpless damsels in distress are nothing more than just "Once Upon A Time."

DISENCHANTED! is a visual treat with a vaudevillian flavor, featuring a variety of musical styles, dance moves, over-sized props and hand-puppet choreography.

The cast includes well-known Twin Cities actresses, all worthy of fairytale princess status: Bonni Allen (Cinderella), Jen Burleigh-Bentz (Snow White), Joy Dolo (The Princess Who Kissed the Frog), Vanessa Gamble (Belle, Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid), Stephanie Bertumen (Hua Mulan, Pocahontas & Princess Badroulbador [Jasmine]) and Katherine Tieben-Holt (Sleeping Beauty).

"Disenchanted is handsomely produced, beautifully performed, keenly directed and joyously entertaining. Six super-talented women - versatile singers, movers, and comediennes - bring humor, harmonies, irony, and pathos to fabled characters who prove to be iconoclasts." - Jack Reuler, artistic director, Mixed Blood Theater

OPENING NIGHT COSTUME PARTY
DISENCHANTED! is having an opening night bash fit for a princess! On Oct. 31, come dressed for Halloween (be it Princess, Prince, frog or other character, fairytale or not!) and join the Princesses, crew and producers for a blow-out party just after the show at Mason's Restaurant Barre, just downstairs from the Illusion Theater at 528 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403. Costume contest with prizes, tasty bites and libations will be available. When the trick-or- treating time is over, celebrate the holiday with the adults and this opening night party, princess- style!

Tickets are available online at Illusion Theater's box office at www.illusiontheater.org or by calling 612-339-4944. Learn more about the production at www.castingspellsproductions.com or www.DISENCHANTEDmusical.com.

Casting Spells Productions, a Twin Cities-based professional theater company, is committed to presenting remarkable stories and creating vibrant theatrical experiences by engaging the finest professional artists, both onstage and off.

Check out the promotional video!

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