Princesses With Attitude

Imagine a world where princesses had to worry about more than perfect hair, finding their prince charming and smiling pretty.

In this world, these damsels in distress, instead of being subservient to their ever-handsome dreamy men, literally storm the castle, demanding respect, a voice, and in the case of the Little Mermaid, a tail in place of feet.

“She thinks she made a poor decision trading her fins for her husband,” said Katy Michael, one of several alums starring in the all-woman production of fairytale princesses gone wild a la “Disenchanted.” Of her role as the Little Mermaid, Michael said, “She sings about how she has to shave her legs and her feet hurt. She would love to go swimming in the ocean again, but she can’t.”

The woes of the Little Mermaid are one of more than a dozen parodies hilariously brought to life in the tongue-in-cheek view offered in “Disenchanted,” which is set to make its Philadelphia area debut next week. A far cry from the carefree life of typical princesses in the enchanted “D” word – which is not allowed to be mentioned outright – the play takes a look at alternative lifestyles, which, according to actress Jenn Hallman, amounts to “sometimes not always happily ever after.”

“Every woman, no matter what, is a princess,” said Hallman, who takes on the role of three secondary princesses in the production. “And you don’t need a man.”

Hallman, a Hatboro-Horsham grad, is one of the founding members of , a theater troupe whose aim is to perform shows while raising money for various organizations in need. For “Disenchanted,” Hallman said H.O.P.E. intends to be a knight in shining armor for itself and is looking to raise enough funds to cover rent should the group become displaced from its home at St. James Hall in Elkins Park.

“If push comes to shove we might have to move. We don’t know what’s happening in the Archdiocese,” Hallman said, referring to recent closings announced in the Catholic Church. “We have to kind of wait and see what they tell us. So far, so good.“

Building as big a “nest egg” as possible is the goal, Hallman said, adding that the group is also in the midst of acquiring its official nonprofit status. And if a move is in the future, Hallman is not sure where they would go, but said she knows where she’d like to call H.O.P.E.’s home.

“How cool would it be to have our service organization based out of where we all fell in love with the theater – Hatboro-Horsham High School,” she said.  

For Mandy (Cardamone) Jacobus, a 1998 Hatboro-Horsham grad, returning to the stage more than a decade later with fellow alums by her side has brought back “that excitement,” she said. So much so, that Jacobus, now a wife and mother, is willing to forego celebrating her 10-year wedding anniversary on March 9, which is the show’s opening night.

“We’re celebrating it doing something that’s truly healthy for me,” said Jacobus, who portrays Mulan. “It’s the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.”

Add in the fact that the theater-loving Jacobus - an Abington Memorial Hospital nurse whose 6-year-old daughter Hope was born prematurely – is always looking for ways to pay it forward and you have a perfect complement to H.O.P.E. Players.

And since, through her daughter, the Disney princesses have become Jacobus household names, playing an “R-rated” version of one of them was an added bonus.

“If there was a show to come back to after 14 years not being on the stage, this is the show,” Jacobus said. “It is the Disney princesses gone wild.”

If you go

The H.O.P.E. Players are staging “Disenchanted” on March 9 (sold out), March 10, March 16 and March 17. For more information, or to buy tickets, see Patch’s event listing here.