From fairytale romance to a drag queen, from ‘80s and ‘00s pop music, Centerstage Theatre’s latest production, “Sleeping Beauty, A Holiday Panto” has it all, and is bound to be fun for the whole family. 

Written by Vince Brady, the show is a musical, comedic retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairytale, following the characters Sleeping Beauty, Prince Peter, Nurse Nellie, Queen Fifi, and Fairy Sweetheart as they fight to break the curse cast on Sleeping Beauty by the Wicked Fairy Carabosse. There’s fun music numbers, corny jokes, lots of audience engagement, and of course, a dragon. 

The entire cast – made up of adults, teens, and youth from a variety of backgrounds, from high school choir and theater teacher to a professional clown – are excellent, and their passion and excitement to be a part of the show is evident.

The Wicked Fairy Carabosse and Fairy Sweetheart prove to be an incredible dynamic duo, from the powerful singing voices of both actresses to the stark visual contrast made between them with their costumes – sleek and black against poofy pink and sparkling silver dresses.

After the show, the cast slowly came out still in-costume to chat and take pictures, much to the excitement of the kids in the audience, who got to say hi to the princess and fairy.

Three members of the cast (Kyle Sinclair, who plays Prince Peter and is the show’s composer and pianist; Brad Cerenzia, who plays Nurse Nellie; and Jessie Selleck, who plays Fairy Sweetheart) gave their insights of the production.

This is Sinclair’s second Panto at Centerstage, and he says the reason he chooses to come back is because, “The larger than life aspect is great, and I love overacting and I love making people laugh, so to combine those things in a place that is perfect for my style of clown, of course I come back.”

This show marks the fifth Dame role in a Centerstage Holiday Panto for Brad Cerenzia, and he says that the diversity in the cast is a big part of what keeps him coming back. 

“Everyone here is really giving and open and fond and playful and interested in doing good shows,” said Cerenzia. “Trista [Duval] is the artistic director, Angela [Bayler] is the managing director, them as a team pulling stuff together, pulling costumes together this year – I got to help design Nellie a little more […] You know, they’re really open and collaborative and they wanna keep building casts of diverse people and I really, really respect that.” 

No show comes without its challenges, like for Selleck, who lost her voice during tech week. Opening weekend was a struggle, but, she said, “The hard work of doing a musical was making sure I could still keep up with my voice and everything, and now being kind of back to normal, it’s been so nice to just be able to relax and have fun instead of worrying about making sure my technique is just right and everything, I can kind of just have fun, finally. Which has been really sweet. I do Panto for fun primarily, it’s the best.”

Some favorite songs to perform from the cast include the ‘80s medley, “Somebody To Love” by Queen (which was a challenge for Sinclair – who didn’t previously know he was capable of hitting notes that high!) and the Ghostbusters number, which is incorporated into the show every year. 

“All the children yell so much, and for the new people who’re in it that we’re on the bench with every year, we always tell them, you won’t be able to hear the band, because the kids are gonna be screaming and screaming,” Cerenzia said. “And so I really like that, but we also can’t see anyone because the spotlights on us and so it’s just really hoping for the best. And this year I got to rap.”

The Saturday evening show was nearly a full house of kids, teenagers, and adults who were laughing along and engaged with the audience participation bits throughout, in turn making it more fun for the cast.

There are limited tickets remaining for their last eight shows through Dec. 17, so grab them now at centerstagetheatre.com.