The Prince Street Players is one of the reasons why I love theater today. I saw their tours as a kid and have very fond memories of their shows.
They were a theater company that put on high quality children's shows using fairytales as their material. What was really great is that they knew how children's minds worked and the shows were geared toward them. They had a theater in NYC on Prince Street, although I've never been able to find anyone that could actually tell me the specific address. I saw all their productions during summers when they toured local high schools.
As for the actual material, I can't remember when it was good or bad, but I do remember certain things from their shows.
In The Emperor's New Clothes, the Empress was played by an older lady who was portrayed as a bit dotty. She carried around a trumpet and every so often would blow it in someone's ear. As a kid, that was hysterically funny. Thinking about it now, it sort of had a commedia dell'arte feel to it.
In Cinderella, when the footmen are going around trying to find out who the glass slipper belongs to, they went out into the audience and tried the slipper on three or four little girls.
I remember in The Swiss Family Robinson thinking that the set was the coolest I had ever seen. It was sort of like a fort with stairs, but it turned around (probably the actors had to shift it).
A couple of their shows were broadcast on tv in the 1960s. I have never been able to find copies of them. They may be sitting in the vaults at CBS.
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Updated On: 6/20/10 at 12:48 PM
