''Sleeping Beauty Wakes'' is a musical with book by Rachel Sheinkin, who won a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spe ...

, and a pop score by composer Brendan Milburn and lyricist

Valerie Vigoda Valerie "Val" Vigoda is an American electric violinist and singer-songwriter. She is best known for writing and starring in musicals including '' Striking 12'' and ''Ernest Shackleton Loves Me'', the latter of which opened Off-Broadway in 2017 ...

, two members of the

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

trio GrooveLily. The show is a twist on the classic Charles Perrault fairy tale of ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

''.McNulty, Charles (July 27, 2011
"Sleeping Beauty Wakes" (review)
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' In this modern-day version, Rose is brought to a sleep-disorder clinic to wake her from her 900-year nap. The musical was presented from March 31 to May 20, 2007 at the Kirk Douglas Theater of the

Center Theatre Group Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

as a co-production with Deaf West Theater. It was directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun. In the spring of 2011, the

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg. ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

staged a revised version of the show directed by

Rebecca Taichman Rebecca Taichman is an American theatre director. In 2017, she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for ''Indecent''. Life and career Taichman attended McGill University, Montreal, and graduated from the Yale School of Drama. She w ...

, which removed all the Deaf elements. The version of the show also ran at the

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

in the summer of 2011, as a co-production with the McCarter. The Center Theatre Group/Deaf West co-production received generally positive reviews and was ultimately honored with 10

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards are a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They are given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Winne ...

nominations, winning in 2 categories.https://www.playbill.com/article/can-can-kaye-felder-lewis-and-jersey-boys-win-2007-la-ovation-awards-com-145353 In his review of the 2007 production in

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, Bob Verini had only positive things to say about the performances, particularly singling out "Faye Dunaway look-alike Deanne Bray and superb singing partner Erika Amato," but felt that "it's the narrative that suffers from a split-personality disorder."Verini, Bob (April 9, 2007
"Sleeping Beauty Wakes" review

The ''

'' review of the 2011 La Jolla production found Charles McNulty praising the show for "freely mix ngmedical science with pixie dust" and said that "the inherent charm of the piece captivates our imagination even as the flaws peek through", but finally wrote that "the show's ambition

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

''] seems to be pulling the work away from its strength as a musical comedy chamber piece. The enchantment is visible, but too much of it remains trapped in a glass case, like a waxwork Sleeping Beauty at a theme park."

References

{{reflist Sleeping Beauty 2007 musicals Musicals based on works by Charles Perrault