Enchanted Playhouse

Sep 2014 30

The Secret Garden at the Enchanted Playhouse

2014 Articles, Terrance V. Mc Arthur, Theatre

by Terrance Mc Arthur

The Secret Garden at the Enchanted Playhouse in Visalia. Don’t keep it a secret.
It’s not like it’s a new story; Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote it in 1910. It’s not like it’s unknown; there are several movie versions, television adaptations, and a Broadway musical based on the tale. What it is like is a friendly story that has been around for ages because it’s a friendly story about the power of love and kindness to make a difference in the lives of people.

May 2014 10

The Adventures of Peter Cottontail On Stage At Enchanted

2014 Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Terrance V. Mc Arthur

by Terrance Mc Arthur

In The Adventures of Peter Cottontail at Visalia’s Enchanted Playhouse, many familiar stories blend together to tell the story of Peter Rabbit and his battles with a wolf family. Brer Rabbit’s briar patch makes an appearance, the House-of-Bricks Pig’s time-shifting gambit is used, and Hans Christian Anderson’s “Big Claus and Little Claus” becomes a plot source. There’s even “playing possum” with no possums in sight. It’s a festival of the familiar...but that's a good thing. You can enjoy the old ideas and some clever twists of the new.

Feb 2014 12

Sleeping Beauty Presented by the Enchanted Playhouse

2014 Articles, Terrance V. Mc Arthur

by Terrance Mc Arthur

The Main Street Theatre at 307 E. Main in Visalia has a wondrous ceiling curving over the audience, crisscrossed with a lattice of wooden beams. It’s a fitting home for The Enchanted Playhouse, a company enjoying its twenty-second season of plays geared to young audiences, and now Sleeping Beauty takes the Main Street stage.

Dec 2013 4

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: Presented by the Enchanted Playhouse

2013 Articles, Tess Mize, Theatre

by Tess Mize

“There are no small parts, only small actors!” Enchanted Playhouse’s current production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is full of “small” actors (most of the roles are children, after all), but there’s nothing small about the level of talent or dedication in this cast. The show, which opened on Friday and runs through December 8, is a delightful production that is sure to put you in the Christmas spirit.

Oct 2013 9

Camp Charming On Stage At Enchanted Playhouse

2013 Articles, Terrance V. Mc Arthur, Theatre

by Terrance Mc Arthur

Take two American teenagers, bored with nothing to do for summer vacation, and send them to England to fight dragons, rescue damsels, learn to be gentlemen, and break a curse that makes the villagers as rude as…well…Americans. What have you got? Camp Charming, a play by Debbie Metzler (who co-directed with Kay Whistler), now playing at The Enchanted Playhouse in Visalia through October 19.

Jan 2013 19

The Arts Consortium

2013 Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Irene Morse

by Irene Morse

There are many articles and notices about visual and performing arts events happening locally in Tulare County. Most of the articles will have, “Member of the Arts Consortium,” as part of the by-line and some will be accompanied by the logo. It is a mystery to most people, however, just what an arts consortium is.

Oct 2012 3

Hansel and Gretel On Stage In Visalia

2012 Articles, Terrance V. Mc Arthur, Theatre

by Terrance V. Mc Arthur

The traditional Hansel and Gretel story pits the wily, evil stepmother against two innocent, yet resourceful, children, who try to outwit her plans to get rid of them.

Apr 2012 21

Pinochio On Stage At The Enchanted Playhouse

2012 Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Terrance V. Mc Arthur

by Terrance V. Mc Arthur

That’s right, Pinocchio is playing at the Enchanted Playhouse through May 12, and it’s a combination of the Carlo Collodi original and original elements written by John Marley. It’s not quite the same as the Disney version, but you will hear “When You Wish Upon a Star”…several times. Of course, you will also hear Cole Porter and Styne & Sondheim, and some classical music.

Feb 2012 8

The Little Mermaid On Stage At Enchanted Playhouse

2012 Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Terrance V. Mc Arthur, Theatre

by Terrance V. Mc Arthur

“The Little Mermaid?” Oh, yeah. I remember that, the mermaid that wants to be with the human prince, with the singing crab under the sea, and the octopus lady, and…Wait! That was the Disney version! Visalia’s Enchanted Playhouse is presenting a musical a lot closer to the story that Hans Christian Andersen wrote in the 1800s.

Dec 2011 7

Miracle on 34Th Street on Main Street in Visalia

2011 Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Lorie Lewis Ham, Theatre

by Lorie Lewis Ham

The classic Christmas story Miracle on 34th Street opened this past weekend at the Enchanted Playhouse in Visalia’s Main Street Theater and my son and I had the pleasure of being there.