{A Twist in the Tail} Why I love THE LIGHT PRINCESS and am excited for the new Tori Amos cast recording adapting the fairy tale to stage!
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When I found out that Tori Amos was developing one of my favorite fairy tales, The Light Princess by George MacDonald, into a musical, I was intrigued.
What's ironic about this is the fact that I first discovered Tori Amos years ago because she wrote a song called "A Sorta Fairytale" and...well...I'm also obsessed with fairy tales. (This you DO know, I'm sure...especially if you're reading today's weekly fairy tale feature!)
The only problem with The Light Princess? It was going to be produced by the Royal National Theatre in London, which meant I couldn't hop on a train and go see it like I can a Broadway musical. At one point in time, it had dreams to jump the pond and come to Broadway; I'm hoping it still does!
Tomorrow, The Light Princess cast recording comes out! (IDK about you, but it's still weird to me that music comes out on Fridays now! It's been Tuesday for SO LONG...)
Official Light Princess Trailer:
I'm really excited to listen to the full show! I know they've changed a lot from the original fairy tale, so I'm nervous, too. It may be like Disney's Frozen, where I have to disconnect the fairy tale it's based on (In Disney's case, another fairy tale favorite, The Snow Queen, only...not) and pretend that it's a 100% original story. OR there may be enough of the original still in there. It's hard to say until I know more!
If you're not familiar with the story of The Light Princess, you can read the original fairy tale online (legally!!!) for FREE courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
I hope you fall in love with it as much as I do! (I even wrote a [really bad] retelling of it a long time ago, I loved the story so much!)
Will you be checking out the cast recording for A Light Princess with me this week?
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: THE LIGHT PRINCESS
Release Date: October 9, 2015
Publisher: Mercury Classics
SUMMARY:
Exclusive bonus tracks sung by Tori featured on this recording!
This is a 2 CD set that contains a 32 page booklet with synopsis and complete lyrics.
The anticipated cast recording shines a light on Tori Amos distinctive and powerful songwriting, performed by The Light Princess stellar cast and recorded entirely as a studio album. The new record will also feature exclusive bonus tracks sung by Tori, a win-win for Amos and musical theatre fans alike.
With music and lyrics by Tori Amos and book and lyrics by Samuel Adamson and suggested by a story by George MacDonald, Amos weaves her delicately crafted music throughout the narrative, with Adamson poignantly telling the story of a young woman facing her fears. The Light Princess is the next chapter in Amos trailblazing career, best described as a huge triumph by The Huffington Post.
The Light Princess is Althea, a princess who loses her mother at the age of six. In an opposing kingdom, a young prince, Digby, also sees his mother die. Digby becomes so solemn that he never smiles. In contrast, Althea becomes so light with grief that she floats into the air, where she never cries. She is shunned by her kingdom and locked away in her father s castle.
One day, Digby declares war and Althea is forced out of confinement. She defies her father and escapes, only to encounter the solemn prince. Beside a lake, the warring heirs begin a passionate and illicit affair. But for Althea to find real love, she must first confront the world s darkness and face her deepest fears.
The role of Althea, the light princess, is sung by Rosalie Craig. The New York Times raved, In its leading lady, Rosalie Craig, a star is born. Craig received an Evening Standard Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her moving performance. She can be heard on the cast album alongside the rest of the original cast including Nick Hendrix, Amy Booth-Steel, Kane Oliver Parry, Hal Fowler and Clive Rowe, among others. The album is produced by Amos and features Martin Lowe conducting with orchestrations by long time Amos contributor John Philip Shenale, as well as vocal arrangements and additional orchestrations by Amos and Lowe.
Amos and Adamson take this fairytale about grief, rebellion and love and create a one-of-a-kind musical that has been embraced by audiences and critics alike.
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is a multi Grammy-nominated singer/composer/pianist who has sold over 12 million albums. Her expansive catalogue of 14 landmark records includes her 1992 iconic debut Little Earthquakes as well favorites Under The Pink, Boys For Pele, Scarlett's Walk and more. Her last and most recent album Unrepentant Geraldines (released in 2014 on Mercury Classics/UMC) debuted at #7 on Billboard s Top 200 chart, making it her 8th studio album to chart in the top 10 in its first week of release. Unrepentant Geraldines was a commercial and critical success, and heralded as some of Tori s best work over the last 20 years according to NPR.
A pioneer across multiple platforms, she was the first major label artist to offer a single for download. She has produced groundbreaking videos throughout her career, taking risks both musically and visually. Renowned for her passionate and broad fan-base, her tours are consistently critically and commercially successful, with an ever-evolving live show. Ms. Amos is also a noted humanitarian and co-founder of RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), which is the United States largest anti-sexual assault organization.
Samuel Adamson
Samuel Adamson s work at the National Theatre includes Southwark Fair, a new version of Ibsen s Pillars of the Community, and Mrs Affleck (from Ibsen s Little Eyolf), as well as Frank & Ferdinand for National Theatre Connections.
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