2f, 2m / Musical, TYA/Jr. High/High School / Simple set Greedy humans exploit the kindness of a magical gnome in this fractured fairy tale based on the Brother’s Grimm. An ambitious peasant will say anything to convince the cash-strapped king to marry her lowly daughter, even if it means pretending the girl knows how to spin ordinary straw into priceless gold. Forced to spin or die, the hapless girl begs a lovelorn gnome to save her with his magic. And when her newfound talent leads to a royal marriage proposal, the aspiring princess will promise the gnome anything to keep up the deception. Even her firstborn child! Too late, she realizes the only way to break her promise is to guess the identity of the mysterious gnome before her time runs out and her subterfuge catches up with her. Suffice it to say that author Jeff Goode and composer Jonathan Price…are an astonishingly talented team. -The Bar Harbor Times