BY KATRINA PANASIUK
For ShipNewsNow

SU's playhouse had its last performances of "Beauty and the Beast" and "A Princess Christmas" this season Dec. 10 (Photo by Katrina Panasiuk)

Shippensburg University’s Stewart Hall was transformed into a pink wonderland this  Dec. 10  as students, dressed as fairytale characters, dazzled the minds of the local children.

Little Princess Playhouse directors Paul and Gretchen Leitner could not have selected a better location for the production as the historical building is already constructed to resemble a castle.

The playhouse,  sponsored by the University’s Department of Music and Theatre Arts, has a cast composed of many elementary education and theatre majors.

The acting experience nonetheless seems to compliment many different majors as the production fulfills 3- course credits to students who schedule Dr. Paul Leitner’s theatre class.

(Photo by Katrina Panasiuk)

Cavet Leibensperger, the only business major in the cast, said he got involved after taking Leitner’s class. The Theatre Arts professor told Leibensperger he had “the right smile to be a part of the production.”

The Leitner’s started the production as a way to allow more entertainment for their daughter Rose, 9, who has had a role in the playhouse since its debut in February 2009.

Though a minor character in the production, the young audience members respond in a surprised manner when they realize that a younger princess has the role.

“We tried to find entertainment for our daughter and wanted children’s shows. We did a couple of samplers during Paul’s theater class, which showed us there was an audience and it just progressed from there,” said Gretchen Leitner.

“It’s nice to have kids in it that are the age of the audience because that brings them in more,” said sophomore Krista Williams.

“Beauty and the Beast” and “A Princess Christmas” were the storybook double-featured events of this season. The second performance took an original modern adaption written by Gretchen Leitner, of the seasonal classic “A Christmas Carol.”

The playhouse featured “Cinderella” and “The Dancing Princesses” last season and the Leitner’s continued the production after getting a lot of positive feedback from the campus as well as the community.

The script for “A Princess Christmas” applied a moralistic view on the meaning of the holiday.

“The parents are really appreciative that we do it, they always tell us that they’re so happy that we put it together. The princess has a great story and moral to it and still has a character that you know,” Williams said.

According to education major Ashlie Bakner, “After the show the kids want pictures and they want signatures and you can see how happy they are.”

Sophomore CC Hough said the post-production interaction allow the children to get to know them outside of the fantasy plot.

“The kids feel satisfied because of that and they see that you are real.”

The creativity of the cast sparks the imaginations of the crowd, both young and old. There was a little humor for audience members of all ages while “A Princess Christmas” took a trip down memory lane with references to Ferris Bueller, Beyonce, and legging pants.

The Little Princess Playhouse will return again in the spring with the storybook double-feature of  “The Frog Princess” and  “Snow White.”