The Rich & Famous: The Sleeping Beauty Edition

This is your who’s who guide to the characters of The Sleeping Beauty who will be gracing the stage of Symphony Hall in Downtown Phoenix on October 25th – 28th!

Mimi Tompkins as Princess Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

Aurora

Bio: Princess and only child of the King and Queen, and gets cursed on her christening day. On her 16^th birthday she pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep for 100 years until Prince Désiré (a.k.a. her true love) rescues her with a kiss!

Nayon Iovino as Prince Désiré in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

Désiré

Bio: During a hunting trip with friends, the Prince gets a visit from the Lilac Fairy, who shows him a vision of Aurora and just like that he’s in love. After a confrontation with the evil fairy Carabosse, he finds Aurora and wakes her up with true love’s kiss – how cute!

Natalia Magnicaballi as the Lilac Fairy. Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

Lilac Fairy

Bio: A powerful fairy who looks over Aurora and originally planned to bestow the gift of wisdom to the little princess but things change once Carabosse crashes the party and instead Lilac changes the evil fairy’s curse so that Aurora sleeps until woken up by true love’s kiss. She makes sure Prince Désiré finds Aurora and ensures the kingdom lives happily ever after. She is hands down one of the best fairy godmother’s ever.

Nancy Crowley as Carabosse in ‘The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

Carabosse

Bio: Also known as the evil fairy, Carabosse is bitter that she wasn’t invited to Aurora’s christening so she shows up anyway and ruins the party. After casting a curse on Aurora to die on her 16th birthday, she runs away before the Lilac Fairy can stop her but no worries because in the end her evil plan is stopped.

Company Dancers in The Sleeping Beauty. From left to right: Songbird Fairy, Fairy of the Crystal Fountain, Lilac Fairy, Fairy of the Golden Vine, Fairy of the Enchanted Garden, Fairy of the Woodland Glade. Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

The Fairies

Friends with the Lilac Fairy, each of them bestow Aurora with a gift on her christening day and party it up with her at the royal wedding.

• Fairy of the Crystal Fountain
  • Gift: Grace
• Fairy of the Enchanted Garden
  • Gift: Beauty
• Fairy of the Woodland Glade
  • Gift: Generosity
• The Songbird Fairy
  • Gift: Song
• Fairy of the Golden Vine
  • Gift: Temperament

Daniel Baudendistel and Diane Bradshaw as King Florestan and the Queen in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

King Florestan:

Bio: Aurora’s dad and ruler of the kingdom, who becomes extremely protective of his daughter after Carabosse’s curse.

Queen

Bio: Aurora’s mom, wife of King Florestan and good friends with the Lilac Fairy.

The Wedding Guests

Alison Remmers and Eric Hipolito Jr. as the White Cat and Puss ‘n Boots in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

The White Cat

Bio: An enchanted princess that is trapped in the form of a cat, who is waiting for her prince to arrive and break her curse. Unfortunately it isn’t true love’s kiss that will help, instead he needs to chop off her head and tail to free her.

Puss ‘n Boots

Bio: A cat with magical powers, who uses trickery and deceit to gain power. He also serves the youngest son of a miller, who just so happens to be the White Cat’s true love.

Naomi Tanioka and Brian Leonard as Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

Red Riding Hood

Bio: A young, gullible village girl who like to bring baked goodies to her grandmother.

The Wolf

Bio: A deceitful and cunning animal animal with a very large appetite, who enjoys eating people.

Company Dancers as Princess Florine and the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty. Choreography by Ib Andersen. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

Princess Florine

Bio: Another enchanted princess who was trapped in a tower by her evil stepmother, but thanks to her loyal subjects, she manages to break free and rescue her beloved prince.

Bluebird

Bio: A prince who gets transformed into a bird by the evil fairy godmother of Princess Florine’s stepsister (how complicated). As a bird he visited Princess Florine when she was trapped in the tower and eventually gets rescued by her.