Review: SLEEPING BEAUTY: THE TIME TRAVELER at Adventure Theatre

Ever wish you could travel back in time instead of sitting in social studies class? Adventure Theatre MTC’s production of Sleeping Beauty: The Time Traveler makes that a reality! The final production of Adventure Theatre’s 2025-2026 season captivates audiences with a modern day twist on a classic story. 

Sleeping Beauty: Time Traveler tells the story of Rolly (Carl L. Williams), an ordinary kid in need of some help with his grades, who finds himself back in the age of Charlemagne after some exploration in a French museum. There, he meets Aurora (Chelsea Majors), a 12 year old princess stuck in the confines of her castle by her parents, the King (Jake Stibbe) and Queen (Sally Imbriano), due to a mysterious curse from her childhood. Rolly and Aurora quickly become friends as they try to find a way back to the modern age, which would allow Aurora some freedom and Rolly to get back home. The story takes the audience on a magical journey through time, teaching about friendship, courage, and family along the way. And for those video game fans in the audience - there may be some fun references for you! 

Janet Stanford’s direction was spectacular, clearly depicting the dichotomy between Aurora and Rolly’s lives while emphasizing the parallels and connecting the two characters seamlessly with thoughtful staging and character development. 

Music Director Elisa Rosman clearly put in a lot of hard work, resulting in fun and energetic musical numbers by the across-the-board vocally talented cast. Right from the opening number, the audience is drawn in by songs that carry the story forward. 

The choreography by Kurt Boehm featured upbeat and fun dance numbers that fit well within the music and staging, allowing the cast to continue to demonstrate their strong vocals while also showing off their obvious dance and movement abilities. 

Chelsea Majors is spectacular in her portrayal of Aurora, as she really finds her inner child and embodies the child-like wonder and curiosity of the courageous young princess. She has a strong Stage Presence and her character development clearly demonstrates the growth of Aurora throughout the story. 

Carl L. Williams stuns with his strong vocals from the very start, and also leans into finding his inner child - and is very accurate in his portrayal of a video game obsessed kid who would rather play Zelda than study. 

Sally Imbriano has found the perfect balance between the refined Queen and Rolly’s quirky Mom. In both roles, she is able to portray a loving parent who always has her child’s best interest in mind - whether it is protecting them from an evil curse or taking them on an epic vacation full of learning opportunities. 

Jake Stibbe leans into each character he plays just like Imbriano, and goes above and beyond while brieftly portraying the evil fairy as the story of the curse is revealed. He is another powerhouse singer full of emotion that can make the adults in the audience really feel the parental love his characters have towards their children. 

The set (Dom Ocampo) and lighting (Lynn Joslin) designs worked brilliantly in tandem, creating a magical world right before our eyes. The multi-level set aided in the world building, allowing the audience to more clearly see the different locales within the production, and the little details like a secret door panel and a spinning hourglass are unassuming at first, but bring even more magic to the stage. The use of fun onstage lighting also really added to the depiction of both Aurora and Rolly’s respective worlds and helped tie everything together. 

Adventure Theatre MTC’s production of Sleeping Beauty: The Time Traveler assumes a little knowledge of the classic story while also retelling the tale in a way that is digestible for the young audience who may not yet be familiar. It portrays the importance of friendship, family, and courage in a way that is entertaining and captivating for audiences of all ages - something we can all benefit from remembering! 

Running Time: 60 minutes with no intermission. 

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