Erica Lee Bigelow, Kim Kurtenbach, Tammie Harris, Sydney Dexter, Shelley Walljasper, and Quinn Mei Lysaght in “Disenchanted!” at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- September 15 through November 6

Wednesday, September 15, through Saturday, November 6

Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL

Described by the New York Times as “a girls'-night-out retro rebellion” and praised by DC Metro Theater Arts for its “knowingly cheeky attitude” and “witty, often rapid-fire lyrics,” the Disney-princess musical-comedy spoof Disenchanted! enjoys a September 15 through November 6 run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, with this new stage work, according to Chicago Critic, full of “fun music and even funnier characters [that] will have you laughing all the way to the palace.”

Poisoned apples, glass slippers ... . Who needs ’em?! Not Snow White and her posse of disenchanted princesses in this hilarious, naughty hit musical that’s anything but Grimm. In Disenchanted!, Cinderella is kind of a nitwit, Snow White can be a little mean, and Sleeping Beauty ... . Well, she's apparently a narcoleptic. In this musical comedy for grown-ups, this trio lead an all-princess revue aimed at upending their popular portrayals. When the princesses rail against princes who expect them to do all the housework, you can forget the princesses you think you know – as well as such familiar characters as Pocahontas, Ariel, Rapunzel, Mulan, and the Princess Who Kissed a Frog. These royal and ruthless renegades are tossing off their tiaras to set the record straight in a show that London Theatre Reviews called “sass-fueled enjoyment” that's “not to be forgotten.”

Directing Disenchanted! for Circa '21 is St. Ambrose University theatre professor Corinne Johnson, whose additional area credits include directing Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Glass Menagerie for the Mississippi Bend Players and Cabaret and Tartuffe for St. Ambrose. The show's creative team includes Ron May as music director; Andrew Moore as choreographer; Susan Holgersson as scenic designer; Gregory Hiatt as costume designer; Heather Hauskins as lighting designer; Sam Ramont as sound designer; Jeremy Littlejohn as production manager; Kendall McKasson as stage manager and props master; Mike Turczynski as technical director; Dianne Dye as wig designer; Trinity Filut as scenic charge; and Krianna Walljasper as spotlight operator.

And with Tammee Harris and Quinn Mei Lysaght making their Rock Island debuts with Circa '21's latest presentation, Disenchanted's cast also features a quartet of venue veterans: Erica Lee Bigelow (Beehive: The '60s Musical), Sydney Dexter (Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook), Kim Kurtenbach (The Savannah Sipping Society), and Rachelle “Shelley” Walljasper (Grumpy Old Men: The Musical).

In addition to its preview performances on September 15 and 16, Disenchanted! will be performed September 17 through November 6, with performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Wednesdays at 7:45 p.m.; Sundays at 5:45 p.m.; and Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 p.m. All shows will be preceded by meals and pre-show entertainment by the theatre's performing wait staff of Circa '21 Bootleggers, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.

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