Under the direction of City College theater and film instructor Luther Hanson, the play will be done in the British Panto style, a method of stage performance that incorporates music, modern-day references, and audience participation to draw its viewers into the presentation.

“It’s sort of a fractured fairy tale,” Hanson says. “With costumes,  dancing, singing and other silly stuff.”

Running through the month of November, “Sleeping Beauty” will have performances every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until Dec. 18. This will give patrons plenty of opportunities to experience the British Panto tradition and an evening out with friends and family.

”Sleeping Beauty: A British Panto” is suitable for all ages. Tickets for the performance can be purchased at Ticketleap.com or at the box office. City Theatre’s performance will be held at California Stage, 2509 R Street, Sacramento, while its facilities are under construction.

For more information, visit the City Theatre website or to purchase a ticket, click here.

Related posts:

1. Dec. 13 Last “Peter Pan: A British Panto” Performance
2. ‘Something Wicked’ comes this way
3. Weird things are out and about

Photo by David Steutel, Western Media Imaging

City College’s Storytime Theatre has a new production, the title of which couldn’t better represent the audience’s reaction for its 30-minute run. The minute “Sleeping Beauty” began, it was as if an enchanted snoozing spell had been cast over audience.

The play is meant to be an adaptation of the Disney animated film, but it was anything but: The children in attendance looked like confused vegetables sitting in front of a television set. The story and performances didn’t squeeze even a chuckle or giggle out of them. The only line that drew a slight laugh was toward the end when the king, portrayed by Robert Born, says, “I had a dream that the Sacramento Kings had a winning season.”

But guess who laughed — adults of at least 40 years of age.

The casting choices were questionable. The queen, portrayed by Stephanie Davis, tried to be funny yet commanding, like Carol Burnett in the film “Annie” but this performance fell flat and was unconvincing. She appeared like an evil stepmother or egotistical actress seeking out the center of attention and the limelight. The magic bird, portrayed by Suzanne Neil, was supposed to be enchanting and lovely gilded bird, according to the dialogue in the play, but instead looked like a hideous harpy dressed in shiny sequins and with a voice of forced squeals emulating those of the damned souls from Dante’s “Inferno”.

And where was the title character? Again I, along with the other children, wished to see Sleeping Beauty (Anastasia Metlenko) come out from behind the curtain more. She was only there for the last several minutes of the play. Why have the title of a production be that of a character who was M.I.A.? But on the bright side, Metlenko has a celestial voice that more than makes up for her lack of stage presence.

Now, I understand that this is a children’s play, but if numerous children in the audience are bored, slouching, rolling their eyes and nagging their parents to go home, then the company has a problem in its hands. This is not productive or successful. If the children’s theater company can barely keep hold of the children’s attention span, then something must be done.

Be prepared to catch up on some zzz’s. The production has one more weekend, Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec 13 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $5 and children two and under are free. Production is held in Auditorium 6.

Related posts:

1. Don’t oversleep on Sleeping Beauty
2. a closer look:
3. A closer look: The Dame, Buttons, and excessive frolic return with ‘Peter Pan’