UCCS Theatre Company to debut student production, ‘Once’
See a new perspective on classic fairy tales this Friday at the Ent Center as the UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once.”
The original production, created and choreographed by student Malachi Page, will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
“’Once,’ I would say, is a production that kind of marries the dance world and the theater world together to create a narrative, theater and dance and storytelling,” he said.
The show will feature a more diverse perspective on these classic fairy tales, creating a more inclusive take for contemporary audience, Page said.
The UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once” this weekend at the Ent Center. The original production by student Malachi Page will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
“I made sure when casting to put people that necessarily wouldn’t be cast in those certain roles,” Page said.
“For ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ we have a Black girl play, with beautiful like dark skin. We have love stories that are being changed to same sex, and we’re also using those differences to kind of see how the nuances would change when these people are put into these roles.”
But, it’s not just about casting people with different identities, Page said. It’s also about exploring what that means for the stories.
“We’re putting more stake into what these changes mean. Not just putting people with different identities into these roles and being like ‘We did it, we solved equality for all,’” Page said.
As for the performance, Page said the show will utilize contemporary and ballet.
The UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once” this weekend at the Ent Center. The original production by student Malachi Page, will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
“The dance itself uses contemporary dance with ballet, like balletic elements, to really hone this sort of classical fairy tale aesthetic,” Page said.
The concept for the dance came to Page in a dream last spring and developed from there.
“The story was different, but it was fairy tale creatures and characters saving their own forest. But for some reason, I couldn’t of imagine these faces of these fairy tale characters, they didn’t have a face to me. And that’s when I kind of realized that they didn’t need to be stereotypical,” Page said.
“I’ve always been so into fantasy and fairy tale stories in general, and so it just made sense to showcase different gender identities, different races, different sexualities to be their own main character of their fairy tales.”
What: “Once”
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb.-10; 4 p. m. Feb. 11
Where: Osborne Studio Theater at the Ent Center, 5225 N Nevada Ave.
Price: $12; UCCS students, VAPA faculty receive free admission; entcenterforthearts.org; 719-255-3232
The UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once” this weekend at the Ent Center. The original production by student Malachi Page, will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
The UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once” this weekend at the Ent Center. The original production by student Malachi Page, will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
The UCCS Theatre Company debuts “Once” this weekend at the Ent Center. The original production by student Malachi Page, will present a fresh take on traditional stories, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
