Review: THE FAIRY TALE MONOLOGUES at Riot Productions

"The Fairytale Monologues" begins with perhaps the defining characteristic of many young female fairy tale protagonists. Young narrator Little Red (Gigi Filipovich) opens a dusty book and matter-of-factly announces, "Her mother was dead, to begin with…"

The declaration ripples through the fairy tale world, prompting the Witch (Sarah LeClair), the Princess (Delia Mejia), and the Baker's Wife (Josalyn Johnson) to question not only the stories they inhabit, but who has been allowed to tell them. "Do I have a name?" the Baker's Wife wonders. It's a fitting question for the ambitious new musical written by Sarah Alida LeClair and directed by Julie Benitez. This expanded version of its Fringe Festival piece fractures familiar fairy tales before rebuilding them into something more thoughtful. "The Fairytale Monologues" asks who gets seen, heard, believed, loved, and ultimately remembered.

A queer princess yearns for the freedom to define her own future, a faithful wife wrestles with depression beneath the weight of trying to find happiness, a witch questions whether she deserves love, and a young girl struggles to separate the stories she's been told from the truth hidden between their pages.

The script is often at its strongest when it leans into humor. Characters constantly poke fun at the absurdity of the stories they've inherited. "This is a toxic narrative," the Witch sighs as Little Red dutifully continues reading from the storybook. Later, despite repeated warnings that "the beans are poison," the belief that they are magic persists. The jokes land because they acknowledge just how ridiculous many fairy tale conventions really are.

The ensemble brings warmth and sincerity to these reimagined characters. Filipovich is a sweet narrator who insists on reading the stories as written, even as the characters themselves push back against the narratives that define them.

Johnson is an emotionally unmoored Baker's Wife; the world tells her that marriage, children, and a cozy home should bring fulfillment, yet the promised happiness remains frustratingly elusive. BJ Robinson's Baker is likable as a man genuinely devoted to his wife (and carbs!), but frustratingly unable to give her the one thing she truly asks for: to listen and to see her.

Mejia's Princess carries the weight of grief after repeatedly losing those she loves, while Timothy Benson's Prince rejects the expectations of his royal appointment in favor of hunting monsters. Their friendship is unexpected and believable as two people hiding behind royal expectations slowly reveal who they really are beneath the roles they've been assigned.

LeClair's Witch is content tending her garden in the woods, yet is constantly sought out for advice and "magic." She has grown weary of offering wisdom that no one follows. Her dry wit and guarded vulnerability make her one of the show's richest characters, particularly through her unexpected friendship with Robinson's Baker and her growing connection with Benson's Prince.

Benitez's direction allows these unlikely relationships to flourish, while choreography by Danielle Muckle, intimacy coordination by Camelina Cedillo, and violence coordination by Nicolas Castillo help create a world where fairy tale whimsy and emotional honesty comfortably coexist.

Music director Christopher T. Miller provides an effective onstage musical presence, performing LeClair's score, which draws inspiration from Irish folk traditions. Having the musician visible strengthens the audience's connection to the performance and adds an intimate storytelling quality.

The musical itself, however, feels unresolved overall. The songs function more as emotional monologues where characters reveal their hopes, fears, and feelings, but they are not songs you will leave humming as you exit. Opportunities to use the songs to move forward action individually and between characters would give the score greater emotional resonance.

Likewise, the expanded script has moments that do not blend as smoothly as they could. Character shifts occasionally happen too abruptly, metaphors become overgrown, and some transitions feel underdeveloped. The musical tackles an impressive range of themes, including loneliness, friendship, mental health, queer identity, sexuality, motherhood, and the search for belonging. While each topic is worthwhile, the production might ultimately be stronger if it focused more deeply on a few rather than trying to encompass so many.

Even so, creating a new musical is no easy task, and "The Fairytale Monologues" possesses an interesting idea and genuine potential. Riot Productions has crafted a thoughtful, funny, and heartfelt work that challenges familiar stories while championing voices too often left out of them. It may still be finding its final form, but this is a fairy tale worth continuing to tell.

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