The Princess Blog

Over the past several years , I have reviewed various princess media . The majority of the shows, books, and movies I've discussed have been rooted in fantasy with a few exceptions . Historically, princesses were the daughters of real-life monarchs and other leaders , but most of their appeal is rooted in legends, myths, and fairy tales . Sometimes, the lines between fantasy and reality can become blurred when using real historical figures as protagonists. In the case of media like Anastasia , Reign , or Six , audiences understand that the primary function of these presentations is to entertain them while throwing in some historical nuggets to do their own research on later if they so choose. It has recently come to my attention that there is a stigma revolving around Disney's Pocahontas , a movie I greatly enjoyed as a child, due to its numerous historical inaccuracies. Is it inherently immoral to enjoy a piece of historical fiction that colors the character's lives in a ...

There have been quite a few Broadway musicals  about royal ladies over the past few years, but most of them were closed before they truly had a chance to shine . Both Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella  and Britney Spears' Once Upon a One More Time  only lasted a few months on the Great White Way before they went dark . One of the most contemporary shows about female empowerment that has stood the test of time is Six , the British musical about the six wives of King Henry VIII. I recently saw this show six years after its 2017 opening, so it lasted at least as many years as its namesake. What is it that made this show dominate so many other contemporary female-empowering fairy tales? For one thing, Six stands apart because it is not a fairy tale. The six historical queens who are featured in it had miserable lives for different reasons. By encouraging its audience to learn more about history, Six benefits from the success of other historical musicals like Hamilton , which ...

Covid took away many once-in-a-lifetime experiences  from millions of people worldwide. I was content being locked away in my tower binging princess shows , but the one thing I missed the most this year was musical theater . The stage is a place for princesses to shine as they show off their stunning costumes , bell-like voices , and whimsical stories . Throughout the year, I learned about many new princess musicals  that I would have loved to see if the theaters had not shut down. Streaming musicals has become more commonplace than ever, but watching a show on a screen simply cannot compare to the magic of seeing it live . While Hollywood continues to rehash old ideas , Broadway is giving us a fresh perspective on history  with shows like Hamilton  and  Six . In the same way that Hamilton sets American history to contemporary music, Six takes the wives of Henry VIII and turns them into a pop band that performs Spice Girls-inspired numbers about their tr...