A King calls on his tiniest subjects to show up in style

Norman J. Burt has an announcement for all the tiniest members of the Land of Contentment, where he reigns as King on the weekends:

“IF YOU DRESS IN YOU BEST ROYAL OUTFIT, OUR ROYAL COURT WILL TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU AS THE RULER OF THE LAND OF CONTENTMENT. SO BRING YOUR CROWNS, YOUR SHIELDS, YOUR HELMETS AND ARMOR, YOU ARE WELCOME!”

Burt will put on his duct tape crown only two more times, this Saturday and Sunday, as the show he is acting in – Ghostlight Ensemble’s The Princess Without Pots – comes to a close. But he wants to make sure they go out with a bang…or maybe a flourish of trumpets would be more appropriate.

He’d love to see all the kids in the audience dressed up in costume, as tiny warriors or tiny princesses or – in homage to the title character in the play – as tiny warrior princesses.

“There is something for each and every person,” he says on why people love the show and have come to see if more than once. “A great story, staged combat, hilarious situations, comfortable front row seating and cake.”

The Princess Without Pots is an empowering fairy tale written for young audiences about the importance of never underestimating your opponent or the power of a delicious baked good. In it, Princess Cristina's parents have decided it's time for their daughter to marry, so all the princes from all the lands come hoping to marry her. But, to win this princess's heart, a prince first needs to win a battle against the fiercest warrior the age had ever seen – Princess Cristina.

Burt, who plays Princess Cristina’s father, says he likes that the King is happy being a father and husband, which makes him an even better King.

“His daughter is a Princess and his wife is a Queen in his eyes even if they didn’t rule the most awesome place ever, the Land of Contentment,” he said.

His favorite part of doing the show, however, is when he hears adults and children laughing during the show at the same time.

“In that moment, you know that you played well to both sides of your audience,” he said.

Burt is a member of the ensemble at Ghostlight and has been seen with them in numerous live movie readings, as well as portraying a completely different kind of father in the theater company’s 2017 production of Six Characters in Search of An Author. Locally he’s also worked with Under the Gun Theater and will next appear in Ghostlight Ensemble’s upcoming live reading of The Sandlot in July.

A transplant from North Carolina, Burt now lives in East Lakeview, which he likes because it’s a part of the city that feels like a collection of neighborhoods.

“A bunch of different people who enjoy different things all converging in one place daily,” he said before adding, “Oh, and all the dogs. Actually I take that back, I mostly like the dogs. Just the dogs.”

Catch Burt on stage in Ghostlight Ensemble's The Princess Without Pots, the inaugural production in the theatre company's young audience series, Nightlight. The show runs Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through July 1 at Laugh Out Loud Theater in North Center. More information is available at GhostlightEnsemble.com.