From left, Jenna Seibert as Cinderella, Sarah Frank as Hesperia,
Tiffany Frazier as Rosanna and Stephanie Noss as Oakessa.
Students transform hall into playhouse
Historic Stewart Hall at Shippensburg University is being transformed into an enchanted castle this semester housing The Little Princess Playhouse. 
The playhouse is the creation of Dr. Paul Leitner, professor of music and theatre arts, and his wife, Gretchen, an instructor in the human communication studies department. Paul is serving as the playhouse producer and Gretchen as its director. The idea sprang out of a need for fun, family friendly entertainment in the Shippensburg area.
To bring the idea to fruition, Paul decided to teach a class on creating children's theatre, having the students be the ones to put the shows on.
He asked Gretchen, an accomplished director in the area, to serve as guest director for the project. The class was very well received and includes nearly 20 students, all of whom are either elementary education majors or theatre minors interested in bringing theatre to children.
According to Paul, "It's exciting for the university to offer the Cumberland Valley a chance to view exceptionally fun theatre for their children." Gretchen, in talking about the logistics of the playhouse, noted, "This project is exciting. We take storybook fairy tales and adapt them for the stage. Through the rehearsal process, the students bring these wonderful characters to life."
One student Derek Shaak, an elementary education major, is bringing stepsister Gertrude to life in the upcoming production of Cinderella. "Bringing common children's books to life is a great way to get the children excited about reading," he said.
Casey Gallagher, a theatre minor, who is the fairy Meadow in the upcoming The Princess and the Snarls, is enjoying the class. "It's a lot of hard work," he said, "but we're having a lot of fun. You get to use your imagination like when you were a kid."
Both productions are part of a storybook double feature on consecutive Saturdays, Feb. 14 and 21 with shows at 10 and 11:15 a.m. each date. Each showing includes both stories. Tickets are $3 each at the door at Stewart Hall and seating is limited.
According to Paul, "The Little Princess Playhouse offers funny, wholesome, family entertainment. We hope this will be the start of something big for the children of Shippensburg."
Note: Additional photos are available upon request.