My Fairy Tale - Musical
Mit Eventyr
A New Hans Christian Andersen Musical
with Songs by Stephen Schwartz and others
Mit Eventyr - or My Fairy Tale - a multi-media musical about Hans Christian Andersen is scheduled for world premiere on November 19th, 2005 at the Gladsaxe Theatre near Copenhagen, Denmark.
THIS PAGE INCLUDES:
About My Fairy Tale the Musical | Audio clip for song "On Wings of a Swan" | Hans Christian Andersen
Enjoy Hans Christian Andersen DVDs [new browser window]
Read from Hans Christian Andersen books [new browser window] A list of Fairy tale books for children and adults. In Europe: H.C. Andersen - Amazon.co.uk
My Fairy Tale
Pictured: The cast of My Fairy Tale.
UPDATE Spring 2006: My Fairy Tale - Mit Eventyr is touring. See a Ticketmaster internation site and do a search on mit eventyr
Stephen Schwartz wrote songs for a Hans Christian Andersen project My Fairy Tale. He commented in the summer 2004 issue of The Schwartz Scene: "Next year is the bicentennial of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen, and his native Denmark is going all out to celebrate it. Among the ways is the commissioning of a musical theatre piece about Andersen, which will be presented in one of the major theatres in Copenhagen. It turns out that a friend of mine, Philip LaZebnik, who was one of the writers of 'Pocahontas' and 'Prince of Egypt,' now lives in Denmark, and he will be writing the book for this musical. Through Philip, I have been invited to contribute some songs to the show, and I expect to write four or five."
Winter 2005: Stephen Schwartz has now completed the first draft of his songs and is working hard to notate the music (using computer software) and then share it with his colleagues. He'll be reporting on the progress in future issues of The Schwartz Scene.
Fall 2005: My Fairy Tale has opened at the Gladsaxe Theatre. For more photos see:
Stephen Schwartz's UPDATE 5/6/05 for his website forum:
Thanks to those who have expressed an interest in the upcoming MY FAIRY TALE, or, as it will be called in Denmark, MIT EVENTYR. It is an original musical about Hans Christian Andersen, commissioned as part of this year's celebration of the bicentenniel of Andersen's birth.
It is a little hard to summarize, but basically it deals with Andersen's choice to write fairy tales rather than the "adult' plays that he hoped would gain him the acceptance of the Danish intelligentsia and upper class of his day. It is told as he takes a journey through his own fairy tale world (I won't try to explain here how he gets there in the first place), and includes characters from many of his stories, including "The Nightingale", "The Shadow", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Priness and the Pea", "The Little Match Girl", "The Travelling Companion", "The Little Mermaid", and "The Snow Queen", among others. It also includes characters from his real life, including Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, Jonas Collin (one of the directors of the Royal Copenhagen Theatre and a benefactor of Andersen's), and Johan and Luise Heiberg (celebrated playwright and actress of the day).
I am contributing five or six songs to the show (plus reprises); there will be also songs by other writers, along with some traditional Danish folk songs and pieces by Andersen himself. The show will be presented in Danish at the Gladsaxe Teater just outside Copenhagen, beginning in October. There are thus far no planned performances in English.
So far, I have been having an enjoyable and interesting time working on something which, obviously, is very different for me. Thanks again for your interest. Sincerely, Stephen Schwartz
My Fairy Tale - sound clip and song list
Kristoffer Cusick (Fiyero in the Chicago production of Wicked) has recorded one version of a song from the show. His site includes an audio clip of the song in English. "On Wings of a Swan"
SONGS by Stephen Schwartz
Stay With Us (BLI´ HOS HOS)
Your Fellow Traveler (MIN REJSEKAMMERAT)
Stay With Me (BLI´ HOS MIG)
On Wings of a Swan (På Svanevinger)
Come Drown in my Love (Synk Ned i Mit Hav)
Colloquy (KONVERSATION)
Save Us (Red Os)
Can You Imagine That? (DET ER GANSKE VIST)
Finale
Musicroom.com is an International sheet music site with 54 Stephen Schwartz items [but not My Fairy Tale - sorry]
Mit Eventyr - My Fairy Tale - More info
More on MY FAIRY TALE From a Danish website: "MY FAIRY TALE will feature original score as well as existing compositions. The musical highlights will be a string of newly composed pop/rock songs created by one of the true heavyweights of the genre, American composer Stephen Schwartz."
"My Fairy Tale features the most important night in Andersen's life -the night he became Hans Christian Andersen. The performance is set at the Royal Danish Theatre on an October night in 1846. The poet has heard an old legend: He who dares spend a night alone in the darkness at the stage will see his biggest dream come true. Andersen decides to spite his fear and go the whole way. However, he wakes up to discover that he is imprisoned in his own fairytale world. In order to return to the real world he must embark on an amazing and perilous journey into the realm of his own imagination. A journey where Andersen lives out his own fairytales, experiences sweeping love, fights for his life against his own shadow and meets a travelling companion - a small boy called Hans Christian. MY FAIRY TALE appeals to Andersen's own audience: those between 8 and 80 years of age."
Source: hca2005.com/HCA2005/News/ca30/id/3562/print/1
OFFICIAL SITE: Gladsaxeteatre.dk
PHILIP LAZEBNIK (Playwright) In addition to writing the screen play for My Fairy Tale, Philip wrote or cowrote the screenplays for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and Mulan and the DreamWorks animated features Prince of Egypt and The Legend of El Dorado, in addition to contributing to the scripts of Antz, Shrek, and numerous other films. He is currently active in Europe as a screenwriter and story consultant for features by Nordic Films, Radar Films, Zentropa, Angel Films, and others. He has many television credits and has written stage musicals. LaZebnik has served on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America West (2001–02), the Writers Branch executive committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (2001–03), and the juries of the 1997–98 Emmy Awards, 2002 Annie Awards, 2002 Buster Film Festival (Copenhagen), and 2003 Galway Film Festival (Ireland). His screenplay for Mulan won the 1998 Annie Award for best animation screenplay.
About Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen's popular tales include The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess on the Pea, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, The Nightingale, The Little Mermaid, and more.
Enjoy Hans Christian Andersen DVDs [new browser window]
Read from Hans Christian Andersen books [new browser window] A list of Fairy tale books for children and adults. In Europe: H.C. Andersen - Amazon.co.uk
An index of Hans Christian Andersen links
Other DVDs for Enchantment
New: The Muppet Show - Season One (Special Edition)
Ben Vereen, star of Schwartz's Pippin and Wicked, is one of many special guests who appear.
Ben Vereen
Song: "Boogie Woogie Music"
Fozzie & the magic cabinet
Song: Ben: "Mr. Cellophane"
At the Dance, Ben & Kermit, Vet's Hospital, Wayne & Wanda
Song: Ben: "Imagination".
Once Upon A Mattress
DVD
An all-star cast brings the classic fairy tale THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA to life in this outrageously funny adaptation of the aclaimed Broadway musical. Queen Aggravain (Carol Burnett) sabotages the efforts of every young princess who hopes to marry her son, Prince Dauntless (Denis O'Hare) -- and no one else can settle down until he does! Honorable Sir Harry is determined to marry the lovely Lady Larken (Zooey Deschanel), so he sets off for faraway lands and returns with an unlikely candidate: Princess Winnifred from the swamps (Tracey Ullman). It's love at first sight for the Prince, so the Queen sets about planning her most difficult challenge yet. The palace is filled with merriment and mischief while everyone wonders, will Princess "Fred" pass the Queen's test?
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