Once Upon a Pointe Shoe is a comedy of romantic proportions, told in four shortish acts. The twists on these classic stories explore the many facets of love - what it is, and what is it not.

 

Each act can stand independently or the entire collection can be presented as a full-length performance.

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Act I 

The Face in the Window

A parody of La Sylphide

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We find James anxious on the morning of his wedding to Evie, when he becomes entranced by a beautiful face in his farmhouse window. Who was that otherworldly woman? Can Gurn, James' best friend, bring him back to his senses while hiding his feelings for Evie? Will Evie see the wedding she's waited for? And what does Madge, the village crone, have to say about all of this? What is meant for you will not go past you.

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Act II

The Swan and the Crossbow

A parody of Swan Lake

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Prince Siegfried's twenty-first birthday takes a turn when he learns that he is to choose a bride by sunset. At the counsel of his tutor, Wolfgang, Siegfried decides to flee into the northern forest to escape his fate and the Queen's royal traditions. His path leads him to a moonlit lake, the swan princess, Odette, and Rothbart, the evil half-man, half-bird sorcerer who cursed her.

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Act III

Revenge of the Wilis

A parody of Giselle

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Albrecht, the philandering Duke of Silesia, has a plot. There are holes in it. Though he is engaged to the princess Bathilde, he intends to pursue a secret romance with Giselle, a young peasant girl just naive enough to believe his empty vows of love. Berthe, her mother, and Hilarion, the village gamekeeper, aren't as quickly convinced that Albrecht is who he says he is. When all is discovered, the entire village plots revenge. 

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Act IV

Sugarplum, or, The Fairy Princess

A parody of The Nutcracker

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For Christmas, Marie Starbaum's Uncle Drosselmeyer gifts her an amethyst pendant and a mysterious book. She stays up late trying to finish the fairy tale contained within its pages, little knowing that her wildest dreams are about to come alive.

 

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Under the working title of The Fairy Princess, Act IV of Once Upon a Pointe Shoe received a stand-alone staged reading on January 28th, 2023 at the Nazareth Center for the Arts in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The work received its world premeire July 10th - 12th, 2026 at the Carlisle Theatre in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. ​