Overview
The Grimm fairy tales, written and collated by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, are so embedded in British and European culture that the assumption is, if a fairy tale exists, it must have come from the Grimm brothers.
For example, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Snow White’, to name but a few, all owe their popularity – if not their origins – to the Grimm brothers’ tales. Most of these fairy tales have been developed into musicals, theatrical productions, cartoons, comics, books and songs.
This new fairytale musical, an original story from Emily Martin, weaves three beloved fairy tales together to tell an innovative story of good (eventually) triumphing over evil. This primary school play is as fun as it is clever, with some ‘wicked’ songs from Matthew Crossey to toe-tap along to!
Synopsis
Dive deep into the magical world of Grimm tales, where the villains always win, and good never prevails!
At the annual villain’s convention [GREAT TO BE A VILLAIN], iconic villains mingle and boast about their nefarious successes. The guests of honour, writers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, reassure their whimsically villainous characters that happy endings will continue to remain forbidden.
Meanwhile, poor Cinders is heartbroken after learning that the prince is to marry one of her evil stepsisters. The caring household staff do their best to cheer her up, but Cinders still feels invisible and forgotten [INVISIBLE]. Fifi and Gigi enter, making demands and bickering over who the prince will actually marry. The loyal staff secretly plot to help Cinders by visiting the Grimm brothers to persuade them to write her a happy ending.
Inside the witch’s gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel find themselves trapped in cages as the witch stokes her fire, preparing to turn the siblings into lunch! But just in the nick of time, Gretel cleverly remembers the helpful birds who ate their breadcrumb trail and calls them to her aid. Hansel and Gretel beg the birds to find the Grimm writers who might be able to intervene [WE’RE COOKED].
At home, Jacob and Wilhelm craft their dark tales, and their faithful assistant, Frank, suggests a new idea – that goodness might finally triumph [A LITTLE GOODNESS]. Before they can discuss this, a pack of wolves arrives to complain that there aren’t enough children walking through the forest to scare, and Red Riding Hood has become too bold to frighten! The Grimm brothers apologise and assure the wolves that they will add more children to the forest. When the wolves leave, the Grimms tell Frank that they won’t be adding any happy endings – they prefer their world ‘grim’.
Outside her home, we hear Millie telling her baby about when Rumpelstiltskin saved her by spinning straw into gold. Suddenly, Rumpelstiltskin appears to reclaim the prize Millie promised him in exchange for his help – her baby! The trickster snatches the child and disappears, but thankfully, the kind birds come to comfort a devastated Millie and persuade her to join them in finding the Grimm brothers. Just then, Bernie and Ernie (part of Cinderella’s household staff) walk by, and the unlikely group joins forces, uniting to fight for a happier ending [BELIEVE IN YOURSELF].
In the woods, Wulf rallies his nervous wolf pack to finally capture Red. At that moment, she skips through the forest, and the wolves scarper into hiding [GRANDMA’S HOUSE]. Red crosses paths with Millie, Bernie, Ernie and the birds and accompanies them. Though Red insists that the woods are safe, the wolves secretly stalk the group [THE WOLF WALTZ]. Eventually, Red goes to Granny’s house, and the group arrives at the Grimms’ home. They confront the authors about their cruel endings and, with Frank’s encouragement, Jacob and Wilhelm agree to make their endings more hopeful! They give Frank their magic quill, and he sets off with the group to restore peace and make things right.
Back at the gingerbread house, Hansel has unfortunately been eaten, and Gretel soon will be too! Without a moment to spare, Frank arrives with the birds and ‘rewinds time’ with the magic quill so Hansel is back in the cage with Gretel and the witch is once again preparing the oven. Gretel follows Frank’s whispered instructions to trick the witch into checking that the oven is hot, then pushes her in! Overjoyed, Hansel and Gretel are free and set off home again.
Frank then bumps into Millie in the woods, and with the help of Frank’s rewrite, Millie is joyfully reunited with her baby! The group can hear Rumpelstiltskin singing his own name from a distance [RUMPELSTILTSKIN]. Frank rewrites the story so that Rumpelstiltskin is outsmarted, Millie guesses his name, and gets to keep her baby! Rumpel is fuming that his evil ending has been taken away and storms off to complain to the Grimms.
At Cinderella’s palace, Frank employs the help of the Fairy Godmother to rewind time so that Cinderella attended the ball after all. After she fatefully meets Prince Charming at the ball, he arrives at her house with the glass slipper Cinderella left behind. Fifi and Gigi both try it on, but it is too small for them. Cinderella steps forward, tries on the shoe, and is recognised as the prince’s true love!
At the Grimms’ house, Frank returns to find a long line of vexed villains demanding an explanation for their losses. Just as tensions peak, Red’s scream is heard off-stage as Wulf attacks her! Frank pleads for the brothers to intervene, and, brought to life with the magic quill, a huntsman appears to rescue Red and her granny. The heroes arrive to celebrate their successful rescues, and the Grimms show real character development, telling the villains that the tales will now focus on hope and bravery. Initially, the villains are dismayed by this until they are all given brilliant ideas to help them reform. The entire cast celebrates the new world of Grimm tales where, finally, good wins out [GOOD WINS OUT]!
