As you wish!  Disney is bringing the 1987 adventure comedy and cult-fantasy-favorite ‘The Princess Bride’  to The Great White Way. That’s right, Buttercup and friends are coming to Broadway. “Disney Theatrical Productions announced last Monday that William Goldman’s 1973 novel and subsequent 1987 film adaptation would be the next in line for development by Disney’s stage arm. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn (who worked closely on the film) shepherded the deal, which allows the piece to enter the arduous process of development for the stage,” according to Entertainment Weekly.

“Interestingly enough,” EW goes on, “Disney did not announce what form the Princess Bride stage production will take — as of this writing, it’s not necessarily a play but not necessarily a musical, either. (A previously attempted musical version from The Light in the Piazza composer Adam Guettel fizzled out in 2007.) It’s up in the air who the creative team will be or what the timetable for the project will entail. Hopefully, we’ll see this beloved classic translated to the stage in time for the 2023 Tony Awards!” Inconceivable! Will the story suffer as a stage production or make it as a merry musical?

For the woefully uninitiated, “The Princess Bride” is a laugh-out-loud fairy tale love story, complete with mistaken identity, heroic swashbuckling, a pining princess, and an unforgettable cast of crazy characters. The timeless tale of duality is framed, in the film, as a story read by doting grandfather to his sick grandson. The little boy at  first shudders at the sappy love story and demands more action, but finally gets swept up in it all. You will too.  Not only is it one of  the earliest roles you might remember Fred Savage in, as the little boy layed up in bed, it’s also a hallmark for a host of actors including: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, and Andre the Giant. Who could ever eclipse those familiar faces we’ve seen as those characters on screen for so many years? “It would take a miracle.”   — Casandra Armour