So you think you know Rapunzel, huh? Fairytale about the princess trapped in the tower with the really long hair and the prince and the witch? Betcha didn’t know she had two other village girls trapped up there with her. Or that the evil witch had a good twin. Sounds like Fractured Fairytles gone goofy, right? Sort of! And it’s got music! It’s Stand Up For…Theatre and their production of Rapunzel (A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairytale) and while calling it ‘rock-n-roll’ may be a bit of a stretch, it’s certainly a quaint and cute little Panto-style take on the classic fairytale that’s perfect for the littles in your life! Theatre for young audiences is at the heart of this SUFT production (an original composite show pulled lovingly together by Andrea Clayan, Alan Weitzman, and Michael Kahn with additional music & lyrics by Robert DeLisle, Kris Kahn, and Lorelei Kahn.) Directed by Ed Higgins, the show is family-friendly, runs approximately an hour and a half (and that includes the intermission) and addresses one of the company’s core values— how to handle being bullied!
A few ‘silent-scenic-transitions’ aside (we’re shoving some scenery pieces on and off and a little vamp on the keyboards would not have gone amiss here) and the production runs smoothly. Really whimsical costumes (compliments of Lorelei Kahn) and fun and creative set, designed and constructed by Ed Higgins (painted by Kathy McCrory & Melody Blahut) and you’ve got a great place for the young (and young-at-heart) audience members to let their imaginations run wild with all the fun and engaging possibilities that live theatre has to offer! With ‘Scratch’ Doug Lea in charge of musical direction and Ed Higgins directing, you’re in a for a heartfelt, wholly entertaining production that really captures the attention of the younger audience members, whilst simultaneously creating opportunities for some very young performers to have their moment in the spotlight.
Arguably the most adorable amongst the league of little performers are the trio playing Flowers— Franchesca DeBella, Sydney Nanes, and Kat Rankin, with DeBella’s character being the rose…that’s allergic to herself! Watching her sneeze is adorably hilarious and adds just the right amount of humor to their very unfortunate circumstance— you see, all the pretty little flowers in the witch’s garden (at least those who can talk!) were once children in the village, who wandered into the woods and were cursed by that nasty old wicked witch— she changed them from children into flowers! You also get Lian and Leila Casal, as the most adorable fox and bird among the bunch, Kennedy Rankin playing a squirrel and Oliver Altman— who is also amongst the fauna but doubles up as Tommy (a fun walk-on role that is both cute and clever.) Don’t worry about those sweet, wonderful flowers, though, they’re being tended to and minded over by a kindly Gardener (Crystal Nanes) who helps them sing their song and it’s very, very sweet.
In the slightly older bunch of young performers, you have Amaya Furtano-Strode, who starts off as the jubilant and sweetly naïve young Rapunzel and then later becomes May— one of the two village girls locked high away in the tower with Rapunzel— alongside June (Kierstin Rankin.) Furtano-Strode and Rankin get to sing doowop style backup for Rapunzel in the beginning of the second act and it’s a really fun number to watch. There’s also Elliot Long, playing our Page…whose running sarcastic commentary is hysterical and he makes a perfect pairing playing alongside Prince Vainglory, but we’ll get to him in a minute.
Of course, as everyone knows, Rapunzel doesn’t really belong to that wicked old witch (and we’ll get to her in a minute too!) But she’s somebody’s daughter. And in this Fairytale— she the delightful daughter of Bumptious (Jessica Long) and Blunder (Jon Clark) Bungle! That’s right, folks, Rapunzel has a last name and it’s Bungle. Who knew!? Toni (Lucy Blumberg) that’s who. Who’s Toni? Well, in so far as we can tell, she’s a Fairytale Narrator, a Fairy Godmother style character who opens up our show with her songbird voice, almost like storytime in fantasyland, and tells the audience— rather, sings mellifluously— the story of Rapunzel. Appearing in her diaphanous spring green gown, she perches on the side of the stage, watching the scenes unfold (occasionally giving some wild and entertaining facial expressions and reactions to the various characters) and pops up to sing a little melody whenever a narrative shift is required.
As for Bumptious (Long) and Blunder (Clark) well, they’re certainly two peas in a pod! The pair of them have a keen understanding of how to really play up the Panto component (kitschy, over-the-top theatrical performance geared for younger audiences) of this show and it really serves both of their characters well, particularly with Long’s Bumptious boisterously bellowing after poor Clark’s Blunder, who lives up his character’s namesake to much laughter from the audience.
Most Fairytales feature some sort of nefarious villain, Rapunzel is no exception. But in true Wicked fashion, you get a bad witch and a good witch, but which is which witch? Cruella (Lorelei Kahn) is of course our vile villain and does so with such vigor, particularly when cackling! Of course, Kahn has that delicate balance of being nasty without being too scary (there are children watching, after all!) and really makes the audience dislike her. In this fairytale, there’s also Grinelda (LiLou Altman…who has the best hat and mushroom accessories in the whole show!) who gets stumbled upon late in the second act, almost like a deus ex machina and saves the day (sort of!) She gets a lovely fun song (and so does Kahn) and both witches have solid voices and have firm handles on how to play up their character stereotypes.
Like all Fairytales that aren’t penned by Stephen Sondehim, the H-E-A comes with a surprise appearance from Stage Manager/Set Painter Kathy McCrory appearing in the show as The Minister…and we’ll let everyone guess what she Ministers to while she’s on stage! Of course, in order to achieve that Happily Ever After style ending, you have to have a damsel in distress— aka the titular character, Rapunzel (Sophia Basso)— and a princely figure, most likely a prince, in this case Vainglory (Gage Wright), to come and rescue her. And this production has both! Basso has a beautiful voice and her sassy little attitude is the perfect juxtaposition to the way her character is penned. (This musical was written before people really felt it was necessary to give agency to female heroines and let them tell their own story!) Basso is a lot of fun to watch because she makes Rapunzel so lively! And Gage is just a hilarious scream because he’s channeling Gaston from the Disney theme parks, wholly obsessed with— you guessed it— himself. And he’s bumping around into all sorts and makes cheeky little off-hand comments (like when he’s rolling through the list of names for what the witch is actually called) and it’s great. They have really good, simple and pure chemistry too.
The show is absolutely designed for the littles but can be enjoyed by anyone accompanying the children too and it’s a great attempt at putting heart and community into community theatre! Catch them for their four performances upcoming this weekend!
Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes with one intermission
Rapunzel (A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairytale) plays through March 29th 2026 with Stand Up For… Theatre at MITAGS/MCC— 692 Maritime Blvd in Linthicum Heights, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.
