When one hears the title Sleeping Beauty, almost immediately thoughts turn to the sweet childhood fairytale about a beautiful princess put to sleep and rescued by a brave prince. Contrary to popular Western belief, the tale of Sleeping Beauty has a darker history. Before Walt Disney got his hands on it, adding in 1959 the soft-hearted, happy ending we all remember, it had a violent, morbid and very un-childlike ending.

Where happiness was found, bloodshed would be close by. Its origins date back to the 13th century, when a Nordic tale entitled Volsunga Saga grew into the 16th century French romance novel Perceforest. Shortly after, Nordic myths combined with French literature of the 16th century, and the story Sun, Moon, and Talia was created by Giambattista Basile in 1636. This version was said to be the most gruesome telling of the old tale.

Then in 1697 Charles Perrault retold the story of Basile as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods. That particular telling of Sleeping Beauty lasted until 1729 when a man named Robert Samber translated Perrault's story into English. In the 19th century the famous Grimm brothers from Germany retold Perrault's version, calling it Little Briar Rose.

In 1890 Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky turned Charles Perrault's folktale (The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods) into The Sleeping Beauty, which took the stage as a ballet. Finally, in 1959 Walt Disney did something that had not been done. He fused the tales created by the Grimms and Perrault to create his own version: a short animated film depicting the princess as a beautiful woman cursed to a “never-ending” sleep until a prince came to her rescue—without all the violence, of course.

In 2011 Sleeping Beauty comes to the stage at Henry Ford Community College in yet another interpretation of the classic story. Written by Stacey Lane, this version of the folktale has been turned into a slide-splitting comedy, as award-winning director Christopher Bremer references material from contemporary films, such as Rocky, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Psycho and others.

To accompany the interesting musical choices Bremer incorporated a rap song, written and composed specifically for this show, which will be played along with a unique and original dance. In addition, the actors will interact with the audience, and children will be selected to come up on stage to be part of the live show.

“This version of Sleeping Beauty is not your grandmother’s tale,” said Bremer. “It’s very interactive with the children. It’s very different in that this is it, there is no continuing portion that goes on to say what happens afterward. This is very fast-paced, very comedic.

“I must have read several versions of this show before selecting this one. Nothing really spoke out because they were very slow, not as attention-grabbing as this is. This version is unique because this version is told through the point-of-view of the evil witch who didn’t get invited to the Christening. She tells the story of how it really happened.”

While the play would typically require a cast of nine actors, Bremer cast twenty-three actors—one of the key casting points of this show. Each of the male actors will play all of the male roles; however, the female actors have been grouped in a sort of acting clique. Bremer has done this to elevate the actors' motivation, and on opening night he will pick the best of the best to perform.

When asked what he looks for when casting for a show like this, Bremer said, “What I look for are mostly the basics, but I need actors that are energetic, that can be engaging and that can hold not just the general public’s attention, but those 400 kids that come to see this. An actor has to be able to hold their attention and to make them believe in what they are seeing. Kids, I say this all the time, will be your harshest critic. So what I look for is an actor that can be seen and heard, as well as that attention-grabbing factor.”

The cast of Sleeping Beauty includes Betty L. Daniels, Shauna Hazime, Courtney Butterfield, London Johnson, Dominic Lumuscio, Asia Robbinson, Danya Talab, Tim Pollack, Samantha York, Kahrah Noel, Kirk Marcellus Hogan, Andrea Wells-Preister, Sabrina Loving, Adam Kamrad, Joanna Graham, Robert Gray, Joey Kulza, India Jackson, Vic Angelo Offutt and Drake Highgate. Cast members all play multiple roles.

The show runs November 4 – 20—Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m., Sunday afternoon performances at 2 p.m.—at Adray Auditorium in the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center on the HFCC campus. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students with school identification and $6 for children 12 and under. Groups of 10 or more pay $5 per seat. For tickets or more information call (313) 845-9817 or email gadzuiblinski@hfcc.edu.