The Light Princess facts for kids
Cover of 1962 edition.
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| Author | George MacDonald |
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| Illustrator | Arthur Hughes |
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fairy tale |
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Publication date
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1864 |
The Light Princess is a magical fairy tale from Scotland. It was written by George MacDonald and came out in 1864. The story is a bit like "Sleeping Beauty". It's about a princess who floats all the time! She can't keep her feet on the ground, both really and in her feelings. She needs to find true love to finally feel grounded.
An animated movie of the story came out in 1978. Later, in 2013, a musical version was created by Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson. This musical first showed at the Royal National Theatre in London. The actress Rosalie Craig played the princess. The musical was very popular and even had its songs released in 2015. Another musical called The Light Princess also opened in 2017.
Contents
The Original Story: What Happens?
A king and queen were very happy when they finally had a daughter. The king invited everyone to the princess's christening party. But he forgot to invite his sister, Princess Makemnoit. She was a very mean and grumpy woman.
Princess Makemnoit showed up anyway, even without an invitation. She put a curse on the baby princess: the princess would have no gravity! This meant she would float away easily. The wind could even carry her off. As she grew up, the princess never cried. She also never took anything seriously. The king and queen asked wise people for help, but no one could find a cure.
The princess loved to swim. When she was in the water, she felt normal and had gravity. People thought that if she could cry, the curse might break. But nothing could make her sad enough to cry.
A prince from another country was looking for a wife. He didn't like any of the princesses he met. He wasn't planning to find the light princess. But he got lost in a forest and found her swimming in a lake. He thought she was drowning and tried to save her. They both ended up floating in the air! The princess was annoyed with him.
The prince instantly fell in love with her. She told him to put her back in the water, and he did. They swam together for many days. The prince noticed that the princess was different in the water than on land. He knew he couldn't marry her if she was always floating and laughing on land.
Meanwhile, Princess Makemnoit found out the princess loved the lake. So, she decided to dry it up! She drained the water and stopped the springs. It even stopped raining. Soon, there was no water anywhere.
As the lake dried, people realized the only way to stop it was to block the hole where the water was going. But only a living person could block it, and that person would die. The prince bravely offered to do it. He only asked that the princess stay with him while the lake filled up again.
The lake slowly filled. When the prince was almost drowning, the princess quickly pulled him out. She took him to her old nurse, a very wise woman. They cared for him all night. When he woke up at sunrise, the princess finally cried! Big tears streamed down her face.
The prince wanted to travel with the princess on land so she could learn to walk properly. After she learned to walk, they got married. Princess Makemnoit's house fell into the water and she drowned. The Light Princess and her prince had many children and lived happily ever after.
The Musical Stage Show
| The Light Princess | |
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The National Theatre's poster for The Light Princess musical featuring Rosalie Craig as the weightless princess "Althea"
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| Music | Tori Amos |
| Lyrics | Tori Amos Samuel Adamson |
| Book | Samuel Adamson |
| Basis | "The Light Princess" fairy tale by George MacDonald |
| Productions | 2013 West End |
In 2013, the Royal National Theatre in London put on a musical version of the story. Samuel Adamson wrote the script. Marianne Elliott, a famous director, led the show. The music and songs were written by Tori Amos.
The musical was supposed to open earlier, but it was delayed. It finally opened in September 2013. Rosalie Craig played the main role and everyone loved her performance. She even won an award for best actress in a musical! The dancing, lights, stage design, and music also received many awards.
In 2014, Tori Amos said they hoped to bring the musical to Broadway in America. But she worried it might not be popular enough for American audiences.
Tori Amos talked about creating the musical. She said the theater told them to be brave and bold. They didn't want it to be too simple. Amos felt it was a "feminist fairy tale." She knew it might not always make everyone feel warm and fuzzy. She hoped it would make teens and parents think. She also wanted kids to see it, as it's a story about a teenage girl. Even if it got a little dark, kids stayed interested.
You can listen to some songs from the musical online. These include "My Fairy Story" and "Althea."
How the Story Changed for the Musical
The musical version of The Light Princess made some big changes to George MacDonald's original story:
The princess, now named Althea, loses her gravity and can't cry when she is six. This happens after her mother dies. Her father becomes very cold after his wife's death. Their country, Lagobel, has lots of gold but no water. They are at war with Sealand, which has water but no gold.
When Althea's older brother is killed, her father tells her she must get ready to be queen. But she laughs and says no. This makes the Lagobel army lose a big battle to Sealand. Althea's father tries mean ways to make her gain gravity. He also tries to force her to marry someone she doesn't love. He wants her to have a child who can be a better ruler.
Althea escapes and runs away to the wild land between Lagobel and Sealand. There, she meets Prince Digby from Sealand. He hasn't been able to smile since his mother died. Althea and Digby fall in love and plan to have a child. But they soon argue. Digby wants a normal life in a house. Althea wants to live in the lake forever.
Digby goes home. His cruel father builds a dam to stop Lagobel's water supply. This would kill everyone there. Digby runs away from his own arranged marriage. He breaks down the dam, but almost dies doing it. This makes Althea finally cry, and she gets her gravity back! They get married and live happily. Althea becomes a marine biologist. She lets a female prime minister run the country.
The script and songs from Adamson and Amos's musical were also published in a book.
Songs from the Show
An album of the songs from the 2013 London show came out in October 2015. Tori Amos, who wrote the music, produced the album. It was recorded in 2014 while she was on tour. Her team recorded the orchestra and met with the actors when they were free. The album has all 33 songs from the show. It also includes extra songs sung by Tori Amos. She was happy to release the album. Many musicals don't get cast albums because they are expensive to make.
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- The Light Princess published by Rabbit Room Press
