Sleeping Beauty
January 1992
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The Show
It's a time for rejoicing in Celestia, when a daughter, Princess Stella, is born to King Jollian and his Queen. However, not everyone, is happy, especially royal chef, Luigi Sollaris, a hot-blooded Italian. His plans to bake the largest Christening cake ever, are ruined when he leaves the scullion, Mickey Mercury, watching over the gigantic cake in the oven. Soon Mickey begins daydreaming of his loved one, Alvira the kitchen maid, and the cake is burnt to cinders. Ageing fairy, Lapi Lazuli, is all of a dither too, as she's fast running out of original spells, and stumped as to what gift to conjure up as a Christening present.
At the Christening, bad fairy Ironfeet, outraged at not being invited, casts a wicked spell as her gift, cursing the baby Stella to, after her 16th birthday, prick her finger on a sharp spindle and die. Fortunately Lapi comes to the rescue with a counter-spell, having saved her magic for a last minute gift. Alas, her magic is weak and she is unable to completely cancel the spell, merely to alter it. So, if she does prick herself, instead of dying, Stella and all the royal household will fall asleep for 100 years and, thereafter, they will only be roused if a Prince finds and falls in love with Stella and awakens her with a kiss.
Sixteen years later, all spinning wheels and sharp objects have been banished from the kingdom, Ironfeet has been clapped in jail, and a nervous Princess prepares not only for her 16th birthday celebrations, but also to meet her husband to be, Prince Eriff. By chance, the pair meet prematurely in the royal gardens, neither one aware of the other's true identity, and it's a case of love at first site. At the party, an old peasant woman delivers a gift of a bunch of roses for the Princess. Except the old woman is really the escaped Ironfeet, and concealed in the flowers is the spindle of a spinning wheel. Inevitably, Stella pricks her finger, and everyone begins to doze off.
Did they all awake safe and sound after 100 years had passed? Did some handsome Prince find, fall in love with, and kiss Stella to release them from the spell? What became of poor Prince Eriff, who'd be too old, if not deceased, after 100 years to free and marry the Princess? Well, of course, with the help of a little of Lapi's magic, everything turned all right in the end. This was pantomime, after all. However, to find out how, you had to be there.
