For the first time since publishing her children’s book, Princess Shayna’s Invisible Visible Gift 15 years ago, Tower Lakes author, Sheila Glazov, will have the honor of watching a musical rendition of the story brought to life on stage this Sunday night. Performers with Lake Zurich’s Trilogy School of Performing Arts have prepared a special interpretation of the book, which is a “family fairy tale” about a young princess created to help children of all ages build self esteem.
The musical version of Princess Shayna’s Invisible Visible Gift was adapted shortly after Sheila published the book’s second edition to include paragraphs about bullying in schools. She wrote the story as a “fairy tale version” of her popular adult book examining behavior and relationships called, What Color is Your Brain? A Fun and Fascinating Approach to Understanding Yourself and Others.
Sheila Glasov is an internationally-known author who has appeared on major television networks and in several magazines to discuss her innovative books. With a Bachelors degree in education, she has spent many years in the classroom, teaching students in grade school, high school and beyond.
But the musical’s producers say we shouldn’t expect to see a carbon copy of every other fairy tale at Sunday’s unique performance. Princess Shayna is a different kind of heroine with loving parents that encourage her to be a self-confident young lady. She is a realistic character who also deals with type 1 diabetes -a concept inspired by Sheila’s son, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at fifteen years of age.
On Sunday, watch Princess Shayna embark on her vision quest to help the “blue,” “green,” “yellow” and “orange” villages from the “Kingdom of Kindness” respect one another and cheer her on as she overcomes bullying and bad attitudes from some of the colorful characters she encounters.
In the story, “blue” villagers reflect creative personalities; “green” villagers reflect logical thinkers; “yellow” villagers reflect organized individuals; and “orange” villagers reflect fun-loving characters. It’s Princess Shayna’s mission to give them the gift of understanding to unite.
Since giving the green light to Trilogy’s Executive Director, Anna Berman, to translate the book into a musical, Sheila has been enthusiastically dedicated to supporting the young cast’s fun-loving performance from start to finish. The production will be performed by Trilogy’s cast of 20 fifth through eighth graders and directed by musical theater teacher Kim Kass.
The Princess Shayna’s Invisible Visible Gift performance will take place this Sunday, May 20, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Middle School North in Hawthorn Woods. You’ll find the school at 95 Hubbard Lane. Tickets will be available at the door for $10. Autographed copies of the book can be purchased at the performance. As the mother of a child with diabetes, Sheila allocates 10% of the royalties from the sale of her books to several diabetes research, education and treatment nonprofit organizations. For more information about the book and author, visit Sheila’s website at SheilaGlasov.com.
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