Cast, Prop and Costume List

Creatures Torture Butterfly, Butterfly Meets the Fairy Sprite

PRINCESS BUTTERFLY

Princess Butterfly is a fairy tale musical appropriate for both adults and children, but mostly for lovers of spectacle and movie musicals. It has elements of camp and suggestions of sexuality, but is mostly innocent. It combines the world of the fairy tale with the world of burlesque, vaudeville, and the stage.

These metaphors are played out through insects and fairies that look like Las Vegas showgirls and perform in an Insect Revue, Shakespearian woodland fairies that prance around in bare costumes and cause mischief, and the fairy tale court where the Prince and Princess go to parties and balls and shop for hip clothes and accessories.

Corny inane dialogue is mixed with formal iambic pentameter dialogue and rhymed verse, and flamboyant showtunes are sung side by side with Monteverdi-inspired lyric song. The result of all this is a tenaciously innocent and glamorous world resurrected from memories of old musicals and glamor queens, fairy tales, and literature, combined for the enjoyment of a sophisticated crowd.



In the story, a Butterfly seeks to find herself by going to charm school. She runs into some weird fairy creatures in the forest who are mean to her and tie her up, and her self-esteem is shattered. A Fairy Sprite rescues her, and takes her to the forest theater where she becomes the star of the Insect Revue. After some vaudeville and dance numbers, the Fairy Sprite dresses up as a butterfly and they do a sister act together.

In the meantime, through fairy mischief and other complications, Butterfly falls in love with a handsome prince. First she goes to his palace transformed into a Princess, then he visits her transformed into a dragonfly. In the meantime, Butterfly is still the star of the show and performs as a Parisian femme fatale, and a series of scenes take place with the Fairy Queen and King, Prince, Princess, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Fairy Sprite, and the Prince's friend, the Count. Some of the songs are "Sexy Dances," "Shopping and Parties," "Lover's Starry Waltz," "Duet of the Butterfly and Dragonfly," "Butterfly Sisters," "Lady of Paree," etc.

At the end, the Prince and the Butterfly meet at a masked ball, and the Prince, who realizes that his love will never be consummated with a butterfly, kills himself. Butterfly is transformed into a Princess, and the Fairy Sprite explains that she had been an enchanted princess all along, and that the spell has been broken. The Prince is brought back to life with some magic fairy drops, and the lovers rejoice in their union and in the two most important things in life: being a star, and being in style. The show ends with a crashing finale.

There are 18 songs and a finale in the show, arranged for piano, flute and drums. The script calls for a minimum of 12 performers, each playing multiple parts. However, a cast of 10 or even 8 is possible if some of the minor parts are omitted and given to other characters. The show may be done inexpensively, but the performances should be as exuberant as possible, and the costumes designed with energy and glitz. Sets are not absolutely necessary on a tight budget. A costume and prop requirement list are included with the script.

©2001 Anna Biller
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