'Sleeping Beauty' Takes Center Stage At The Lyric

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--An evil witch, a princess and her prince charming. The classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, is taking center stage at The Lyric this weekend.

Amy Yensi has more.

It's the love story we all know: a magical kiss brings a princess back to life.

The Ballet Theater of Maryland will perform its version, of Sleeping Beauty at The Lyric this weekend.

"There's a lot of action in it, as well as the beauty of the ballet," said Nicole Kelsch, who plays Princess Aurora.

She and the rest of the cast are rehearsing 8 hours a day, 6 days a week to ensure this one time performance is perfection.

On show night, their athleticism will be tested during the 3-hour production.

"It's actually probably the hardest ballets I've ever done and I've been with the company for 10 years," said Kelsch.

The Sleeping Beauty ballet has been performed many times through the years, but now two productions are ever the same.

The show's director, Dianna Cuatto says she read 20 different sleeping beauty books, to create her version of the classic.

"My sleeping beauty has traditional elements, but it also has some elements that are not as traditional too," said Cuatto.

The fairytale is one of many renditions to come from the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, as it becomes the resident company at The Lyric this year.

"It's soul to soul communication in a way to really move people for better and you can't get that off of film and TV," says Cuatto.

Sleeping Beauty first premiered back in 1890.

The Lyric performance will be one show only, this Saturday at 7 p.m.

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