Recently, Julie from the Phoenix New Times had the opportunity to review Princess & The Pea. Her comments are below and you can read the entire article here Enjoy!

The plays are for young audiences, but experienced adult actors play adult characters, so you can rely on the solid production values you’ll generally find in a Hale show. The current Children’s Theatre offering, The Princess & the Pea, has been running for about a month, and it continues into June, because these shows are presented just once a week, at a Saturday morning matinee. It’s kind of a nifty system that leaves both the venue and the performers available for more complex, time-consuming projects during the rest of the week.

One of the nice, homey things about Hale that’s even cooler with a young audience is that the performers come out to the lobby in costume to say hello, sign autographs, and pose for photos when the play’s over. Everyone is popular, but as Tabitha, the Queen’s cat, Ashley Letizia was definitely a favorite, and her performance was quite good, too, incorporating an adorable costume by Pam Oborn, the physical control of a dancer, and the cute grouchiness of, well, a cat.

I enjoyed the other performances, too, including Tyler Pounds’ portrayal of young Prince Valiant. Pounds plays naive and good-hearted in an earnest, believable fashion. Even if that’s not a stretch for the baby-faced MCC student, he rounded out the character and won the audience over.

In his quest for a bride, Valiant and his squire, Donald Dunce (Kevin Whitaker, goofy and charming) meet several princesses with whom the prince doesn’t quite click. These actresses do quite a bit of doubling, and they ably adjusted more than just their wigs and dresses to play multiple characters.

The script does make some positive statements about romantic compatibility, incorporates just enough slapstick, gives the kids in the audience opportunities to participate, and stretches what is really a very short story into two brief acts that nearly make sense.

The Princess & the Pea continues through Saturday, June 26, at Hale Centre Theatre, 50 West Page Avenue in downtown Gilbert. Tickets are $10 and $12; order here or call 480-497-1181. Girls in the audience are encouraged to dress up all princessy, but when I attended I saw a diverse mix of wardrobe choices, from super-cute sundresses to the smallest, most fully outfitted Cinderella I’ve ever seen, and everyone looked comfortable.