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Starring Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Weller, and Roy Dotrice
"One man's problem is another man's good fortune."
The last episode of Faerie Tale Theatre is certainly one of its
best. The story of the Dancing Princesses lends itself beautifully to the screen. Roy Dotrice is charming as the
father of six beautiful princesses - that he simply cannot undrstand. For some reason they all wear out their dancing
slippers overnight, and require new ones every morning. The King is at a complete loss, and hires retired soldier Peter
Weller to investigate. What he finds is a fairy tale in every sense of the word.
Performance wise this is the best ensemble piece in the entire
series. All of the six princesses (reduced from twelve in the original tale) are lovely and charming. Lesley Ann
Warren sparkles as the eldest daughter, Jeanetta. Sachi Parker nearly steals the show as the youngest, Loretta (yes,
all of the princesses' names rhyme). Ian Abercrombie has a delightful role as the much put-upon Royal Cobbler, and last
but not least, Zelda Rubinstein has a cameo as a mysterious old woman.
This tale succeeds on several levels: the plot is interesting, the characters
well-developed, the sets and costumes are beautiful, but the real key to this is the actors. They all worked extremely
well together and had great chemistry. Warren and Weller brought a real element of romance to the story, which makes
me watch it over and over again.
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