Queen Cinderella and the Rainbow Magic

Gracie shines as her wish comes true to star in her own play.

By Wake Forest University

November 14^th, 2024

When Make-A-Wish reached out to area theater companies for help in granting a little girl’s wish to write and perform in her own play, Wake Forest theatre students and faculty jumped in to help fulfill Gracie’s dream. Read the full story on the Wake Forest News website.

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Wake Forest theatre professor Jonathan Herbert, the play's director, welcomes guests to the Ring Theatre. "Everything that happens in this play comes from Gracie's imagination," he tells a packed house. The play begins with sophomore Nola Adepoju inviting the cast to hear the story of "Queen Cinderella and the Rainbow Magic."

Queen Cinderella, played by Gracie, dances with her king and members of the kingdom.

Queen Cinderella loved her life as a queen and mother, but she enjoyed moments of peace.

As luck would have it, Queen Cinderella has a magic wand she carries with her at all times. When her daughters are noisy, she waves her wand and shouts,"QUIET!" This was a pretty handy tool that she could also use on her husband. "I don't understand why we need more shoes, my love. You already have a whole closet full?" Queen Cinderella replies, "A princess can never have too many shoes."… (cue wand wave) "QUIET!"

With her magic wand, Queen Cinderella changes plain vegetables into magic rainbow-colored vegetables that, when eaten, also have the power to turn horses into princes and husbands for her daughters.

The Queen's goat, Rainbow Sparkles, sees what has happened to the horses and also eats the magic vegetables and becomes human. Rainbow Sparkles tells the kitchen assistants that she is now the head chef and instructs them to bring her all the vegetables in the kingdom.

When Queen Cinderella hears that all the vegetables have been stolen, she calls for the fairies to investigate. Rainbow Sparkles knows the fairies will discover what she has done and realizes that the only solution is to take over the kingdom.

.... with a food fight!

Queen Cinderella ends the food fight with a waive of her wand and announces that the vegetables will be given back to the villagers to eat. The cast joins Queen Cinderella as she sings an original song composed by music professor Caryn Greco.

Theatre and Dance professor Karsen Green and a team of students created and built more than two dozen costumes for the show, including the spectacular Cinderella costume for Gracie, who enjoyed spinning in circles almost as much as the cast and audience enjoyed the show.

Students and faculty members working behind-the-scenes on pre-production props, lighting, sound, graphic art, programs and posters receive a round of applause.