Rumpelstiltskin charms them at Blackhorse holiday production
By Bill Rea

The cast of the Blackhorse Village Players' production of Rumpelstiltskin consisted of David Potocki, Lisa Casagrande, John Milne, Chandra Mulder and Nadia Casagrande.

Rumpelstiltskin was not a very nice dwarf, according to the stories that have come down about him.

But the version put on over the holidays by the Blackhorse Village Players certainly charmed young and old alike.

It was the third annual Children's Holiday Production, and included lots of opportunities for interaction between the performers and the audience, especially the younger crowd. Everyone in the house had some role to play, possibly as an animal or a woodchopper or a villager. There were also a couple of jokes, that while clean were of a nature that only the adults would get, such as the Miller (played by David Potocki), who had trouble finding a job, having gone to everyone from Glenn the Miller to Richard's Millhouse. There were also plenty of special effects, like thunder and lightning, along with a spinning wheel that just spun, with no one apparently there to do the spinning.

The show was narrated by Gladys (Chandra Mulder).

"Every story has to start some place," she told the audience early in the show. "Once upon a time is as good as any time."

The cast included Lisa Casagrande as Annette John Milne as the King and Nadia Casagrande as non other than Rumpelstiltskin, the dwarf with attitude who got a little huffy upon learning the audience knew his name, responding with grumblings of the "You bunch of nosy parkers!" variety.

The show was directed by Cheryl Phillips.

Audience members were encouraged to bring nonperishable food items.