Chris Loop and Lindsay Hopper in "The Frog Prince"
I was a shy, skinny little blonde girl, scared to death. I was a tiny speck, about five years old, in a humongous chair in a large, strange place in my home town of San Diego, clutching my mother’s hand in the middle of a million strangers all expectantly staring straight ahead at a vast red velvet curtain. The lights went out…very…very slowly, and everyone hushed. I held my breath. Something important was about to happen — magic!
June Chandler
Cinderella was in rags, alone and crying by the fireplace. She dreamed of a different life but no one heard her, no one cared. I cried too. I got angry at her spoiled stepsisters for taunting her and her mean stepmother for not loving her. Then suddenly, I still don’t know how, she stood and in a moment of dazzling light, a puff of smoke and tinkling sounds…she changed into the most beautiful princess I could imagine. She became what she had wished to be. Ahhh…she was transformed!
I guess we all wonder where our obsession begins. That was it. An actor could transform and be anything she wanted to be. Okay, let’s go. I don’t know how I did it, but at age seven I became a very little professional television actress in live black and white TV. Over my lifetime I continued to transform as an actor, artist, designer, writer, producer, teacher, and person. I followed every opportunity and impulse blithely, fearlessly and passionately, satisfying my compulsion to become everything I wanted to be. It’s never been about fame or money, thank God, it’s always been about the adventure and limitless possibilities in life. This career has never let me down. My story of course is not unique, in this wonderful Hollywood candy store.
Shirley McConnell and Jane Fuller in "Cinderella"
Fairy Tale Theatre grew out of a class I teach for “real people” on the Sierra Madre Playhouse stage. Two years ago I assigned them to do The Wizard of Oz, knowing it would be a gift for these adult actors to play those incredible characters for an enraptured audience of Munchkins. Well, like small-town summer stock, the production became a phenomenon. The costumed characters waved at the cars as they passed by the charming playhouse. Passers-by said, “I didn’t know this theater was here.” Dorothy and Toto paraded down the quaint village streets and the children followed them like the Pied Piper into the theater. The concept of interactive children’s theater worked here. It was a gift not only for the actors but for the kids in the community and the Playhouse by expanding their visibility and exposing young future audiences to theater. Another adventure for me!
Okay, let’s go! Let’s do it like we did in summer stock. The challenges were considerable, because the Playhouse is in non-stop production with six 99-Seat Plan shows a year. We’ve got to make magic happen in front of all of that. That’s where that intoxicatingly beautiful red velvet curtain comes in. It becomes part of the magic, letting the kids use their imaginations. Black out! The Fairy Godmother appears in twinkle lights from the opening of the curtain. The Frog can feverishly swirl and transform into a Prince in strobe light. The beautiful damsel can appear in the crystal ball made of scrim. In black light the Sorcerer can fly to the ceiling. When Cinderella meets her Prince and they dance, the entire theater can transform into starlight with lasers. This isn’t work, it’s fun…and it doesn’t cost much. “I’ve got an idea…let’s do a show!’
Chris Loop in "The Frog Prince"
How do we get these kids to fall in love with theater forever? Let’s let THEM transform. All it takes are mouse ears, a tiara or a pirate hat to believe. They ARE the Munchkins and Cinderella’s BFFs, the mice. They’ll be the magician’s assistants and learn real magic tricks, hide Dorothy from the witch, stuff the scarecrow, oil the Tin Man, hop on the lily pads with the Frog Prince and become princesses and dance with Prince Charming at the ball. In just 45 minutes, real time, our friends in Oz will skip down the yellow brick road and we’ll live out their entire journey. Then the kids all swarm around the costumed characters in front of the magical theater, still wearing their Munchkin costumes or waving their Sorcerer’s wands. They all make friends with the characters who live in the Playhouse and take home their autographed souvenir programs. Whew!
A few weeks ago, one of the ushers ran up to me and said…”Come look at the little girl in the back row, her name tag says she’s June”. It was almost an apparition. There she sat…little June…a skinny little blonde girl, a tiny speck in a humongous chair, waiting with trepidation for her first glimpse of theater magic.
The curtain goes up again.
The Tale of the Frog Prince, presented by June Chandler’s Fairy Tale Theatre. Opens October 15. Plays Saturdays, 11 am through November 12. Tickets: $18 / children 12 and under $12. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. Call 626-355-4318 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.
June Chandler has had a lifelong acting career in film, television, theater and commercials. For more than 25 years, she has taught acting to adults at June Chandler’s Actors Workshop and in seven local colleges. Her theater directing has included The Elephant Man at the Victory Theatre and The Good Doctor at the Sierra Madre Playhouse. She currently co-produces, writes and directs Fairy Tale Theatre.
***All production photos by John Gibson
