ONLINE PROGRAM
ELLA ENCHANTED THE MUSICAL
based on the book by GAIL CARSON LEVINE
book and lyrics by KAREN ZACARÍAS
music by DEBORAH WICKS LA PUMA
Ella Enchanted is presented through a special arrangement with Curtis Brown LTD and Crunchynotes. All authorized performance materials are supplied by www.crunchynotes.com
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the Internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under copyright law.
April 7-22, 2023
Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7pm
Sundays at 2pm
running time:
One act musical,
approx. 70 minutes
SHOW SUMMARY
Ella of Frell is given the ‘”gift” of obedience by Lucinda, her misguided Fairy Godmother, and is forced to do anything people command her. On her adventure to rid herself of the curse, she must outwit ogres, sidestep giants, befriend a prince, survive her step-family, and ultimately find the power to be her true self.
“ELLA ENCHANTED heroically speaks to the value of words…the battle between saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ wages a magical war…delightful and utterly disarming…A story that gives every child a chance to be heroic every day.”
– Broadway World
RATING: G | 6+
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Video courtesy of Samford University, ELLA ENCHANTED THE MUSICAL highlights
Production Inclusion Statics
70.37% FEMALE/NON-BINARY
REPRESENTATION
48.15% MARGINALIZED REPRESENTATION
22.22% BIPOC
REPRESENTATION
29.63% LGBTQIA2S+
REPRESENTATION
70% ON STAGE
70.59% OFFSTAGE
40% ON STAGE
52.94% OFFSTAGE
30% ON STAGE
17.65% OFFSTAGE
30% ON STAGE
17.65% OFFSTAGE
ABOUT THE CREATORS
KAREN ZACARIAS
Karen Zacarías was recently hailed by American Theater Magazine as one of the ten most-produced playwrights in the US. Her award-winning plays include The Copper Children, Destiny of Desire, Native Gardens, The Book Club Play, Legacy of Light, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana and the adaptations of Just Like Us, Into the Beautiful North and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent. She is the author of ten renowned TYA musicals (including Ella Enchanted: The Musical) and the librettist of several ballets.
She is one of the inaugural resident playwrights at Arena Stage, a core founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons – a large national organization of artists seeking to update the American narrative with the stories of Latinos – and she is the founder of the award-winning Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT). YPT was cited by the Obama administration as one of the best arts-education programs on the nation.
Karen was voted 2018 Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine for her advocacy work involving the arts. She is an inaugural 2019 Sine Fellow for Policy Innovation at American University and is selected by The League of Professional Theatre Women to receive the 2019 Lee Reynolds Award, given annually to a woman in theater who has helped illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural or political change. In 2021, Karen was awarded a United States Artists Fellowship award.
Karen lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children. www.KarenZacarias.com
DEBORAH WICKS LA PUMA
A composer, music director and orchestrator, Deborah Wicks La Puma is one of the most produced Theatre for Young Audiences artists working today. With bestselling children's author Mo Willems she has created Elephant and Piggie's: We Are In A Play; Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience; and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The Musical . Her many and diverse works with playwright Karen Zacarías include Ella Enchanted (based on the book by Gail Carson Levine), Olivério: A Brazilian Twist, Frida Libre, Looking for Roberto Clemente and Einstein Is a Dummy. With playwright Adam Tobin she created She Persisted (based on the book by Chelsea Clinton), and the upcoming What Do You Do With An Idea? (based on the book by Kobi Yamada). Her adult works include the lyric opera Dakota Sky and the Mexican folk musical Perdita (based on Shakespeare's Winter's Tale) with Kathleen Cahill. She received her MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, her bachelor's degree from Stanford University, and studied folk music with ethnomusicologist Alfredo López Mondragón. Her honors include the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, an NEA New American Works Grant, two Parents' Choice Awards, and a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Adaptation. A proud Mexican-American and "Navy brat" who grew up in Brazil, Portugal and California, La Puma is a member of TYA USA/ASSITEJ, ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild. Mother to three daughters and Mimi the Cat, La Puma lives in Southern California with her PR agent and loving husband, Chris.
Courtesy of mtishows.com
GAIL CARSON LEVINE
Gail Carson Levine grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan. From third grade through high school she wrote stories and poems, and a few of her poems were published in an anthology of student writing, but she never thought of becoming a writer. In college, first Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, then City College of New York, she majored in Philosophy and met and married her husband David.
After college she worked for New York State government, mostly in jobs that had to do with welfare. Meanwhile she starting writing for children and wrote the script for a musical called Spacenapped (her husband wrote the music and lyrics) which was performed by The Heights Players, a community theater in Brooklyn - but she still didn't think of herself as a writer.
She read novels constantly, then, one day while meditating, asked herself why, since she adored stories, she never made up any. That was the beginning of The King's Cure, an art appreciation book for kids, which she wrote and drew pencil illustrations of birds and used reproductions of famous art for the illustrations. Although no one would publish it, she became hooked on writing, and took writing classes, joined critique groups and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (www.scbwi.org). She collected rejection letters for nine years until an editor accepted the manuscript for Ella Enchanted, which was a 1998 Newbery Honor Book.
Courtesy of bookbrowse.com
SONG LIST
All Will Be Well: Opening - Mother, Lucinda
Ella’s Spell - Lucinda
Obey - Ensemble
All Will Be Well Reprise - Mother
It’s Like Magic - Ella, Bird, Char, Menagerie
Finish You Off - Mistress Manners, Ella, Hattie, Olive
Obey Reprise - Ella
Meat and Greet - Ogres, Ella
Giant Wedding Dance - Ensemble
Peter and Olga’s Spell - Lucinda
Oppressive Obey - Ella, Olga, Hattie, Olive
It’s Like Magic Reprise - Lucinda, Ella
Remember Me - Ella, Char
I Say No - Ella, Ensemble
All Will Be Well: Finale - Ensemble
Finale - Ensemble
FROM THE DIRECTOR
The story of Cinderella is 100s of years old. The first time it was put to paper was in 1634. There are so many versions of Cinderella, novels, Fairy Tales, films, children’s storybooks, plays, musicals AND it has been shared in every language. I happen to think our version is pretty special.
In this story Ella pursues her own destiny, shattering traditional standards and in turn aims to write her own future. And unlike other versions of this story, she does it all with the added challenge of constant obedience, a “gift” from her Fairy Godmother. Add a wicked Stepmother, 2 self serving Stepsisters, some Ogres and a Fairy Godmother who is of little help, and you have got yourself a real adventure. She never gives up despite it all, a true heroine in my books.
The Team, cast, and crew, have worked tirelessly to create this show just for you. They are indeed nothing short of extraordinary. Every challenge was met with positivity and support, we wanted this to be a show your entire family will enjoy.
We welcome you all to the Kingdom of Frell, we are grateful you could join us. Now lose yourself in this remarkably magical and courage driven adventure.
Samantha Currie
Director
THE COMPANY
THE CAST
Ella Niña Arny R. Mabugat
Char Robert Mcdonald
Mother, Mistress Manners & Ensemble Janeen Derochie
Lucinda Alexandra Woodley
Sir Peter David Kampel
Dame Olga Riley Galarneau
Hattie Amy Warren
Olive Hayoung Chun
Ensemble Leah Chan
Ensemble Nicole Carlson
THE CREW
Director Samantha Currie
Musical Director Ethan Vasquez Taylor
Choreographer Danielle Desmarais
Stage Manager Serena Lemire
Assistant Stage Manager Elizabeth Houghton
Assistant Stage Manager Ross Wilson
Production Manager & Lighting Designer Skylar Desjardins
Property Master Jason Bakaas
Set Designer Lorie Masur
Set Builder Joshua Bailey
Set Assistant Darcie Howe
Set Assistant Therese Capili
Wardrobe Designer Carson Walliser
Wardrobe Assistant Chloe MacDonald
Hair Designer Cat Bentley
Makeup Designer Melody Kielek
Sound Designer Shayleigh Sihlis
Sound Operator Aretha Smith
Sound Operator Brady Hillman
Sound Producer Paul Davies
Lighting Operator Jo Ackerman
Artistic Producer JP Thibodeau
Marketing Director & Graphic Design Jennifer Merio
Publicist Aldona Barutowicz
PR Intern Hayley Dechaine
Show Photography Tim Nguyen
