By Amy Nicole

Risqué with some raw language “Disenchanted!” is a Disney princess performance where the kids stay home

As the curtain opened this past Sunday for the matinee of “Disenchanted!” at Hardscrabble Theater on Long Island, the weekend run marked their premiere mainstage musical production with a hilarious yet strong-willed spoof on the masculine ideals placed on beloved Disney Princesses.

The Hardscrabble Theater at St. Thomas Episcopal Church located on Conklin Street in Farmingdale, NY is set quaintly back with a patio garden entrance just steps away from the intersection of bustling restaurants on Main Street to take in a meal before or after the show.  Having stepped into many theaters over the course of my career in New York City, New Orleans, LA, and London, I instantly felt I was looking upon a local theater hidden gem that I had long been looking for on Long Island.

Walking in through the open wooden doors, there is nothing small about the audience entrance.  While the stage itself holds a tightly squeezed cast of 11 with little to no props in an all-female-vocally-explosive cast the theater is classic and spacious with seating that can hold up to 100 people.

Directed by Rita Sarli, the story of “Disenchanted!” sets the stage and the tone for the comedy to come with an opening from a sassy and there to set-the-record-straight Snow White who explains to the audience that all of the princesses we were about to hear stories from had fallen to “The Princess Complex;” being tricked by the real spell of believing their tiaras always ended in happily ever after.

The delivery of comedic one-liners from characters referring to their own movies with sarcasm and a disgruntled release were great laughs for the audience from Snow White’s “One more whistle while you work, I am going to scream” to Ariel’s post-wish to be part of your world blues anthem, “I can’t believe I swapped the seven seas for a prince and a pair of these [legs].”

The score was fun and risqué with some raw language here and there making this show a Disney princess performance where the kids stay home.  For mature teens and up it is a humorous twist of a tale taking on real emotional pressures such as the ideals of being perfect and standards that feel impossible to live up to as the princesses speak their truths. 

“Disenchanted!” made me think if there was a fictional reality show of behind-the- scenes at the Bippity Boppity Boutique where the princesses were the stars this would be it.

With a runtime under two hours and a 15-minute intermission the show flowed with great pace leaving the feeling of just the right ending while wanting to see it again.

“Disenchanted!” runs again for its final weekend this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3 and 4 at 8 p.m. with the closing performance Sunday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online at hardscrabbletheater.com or in person at the door.

Photo credit: Ecco Matlak