Mom And Daughter Adapt Film Into Play At Tampa Fringe

It all began 15 years ago when Valrico resident Arlene Jacobs’ daughter, Jessica Jacobs, was obsessed with unicorns.

“I introduced her to a movie that was released in 1982 called The Last Unicorn, which I had loved as a teen,” Arlene said. “Being the reader that she is, she immediately found the book and read it. The book is full of lyrics of songs but no music. One of them really spoke to her, so she wrote music for the song that is in the book, and she sent the music to the author, Peter S. Beagle.”

Jessica told Beagle that she was in high school studying musical theatre at Blake High School.

“He wrote her back and sent her a copy of a script, a play version that he was working on,” Arlene said. “Nothing much came of that play version. I think it was produced once, but she kept a copy of that script for 15 years.”

For her daughter’s 30th birthday, Arlene wrote to Beagle and reminded him of the exchange and asked him if they could have the rights to adapt his book and add original music.

“He said yes, and his representative sent over a contract. We started writing, and Jessica worked on the music,” Arlene said. “We sent all of it to Mr. Beagle, and he approved. We are retelling the story using live actors, puppets and shadow puppets, with original music based on the lyrics that are in the 1969 book. So, the show is cast, and rehearsals have begun. It opens August 13 for two weekends only at Tampa Fringe.”

The play is a work of love for the mother-daughter duo.

“It was the first story that made me question what being alive actually meant,” said Jessica. “I grew up on the classic movie, and the theme song features a defiantly joyful declaration, ‘I’m alive!’”

Arlene and Jessica hope the play appeals to those who are actively hurting.

“To those who are lost, to those who feel as if they can’t find their people and to those who are still desperately waiting to see a unicorn in real life,” Jessica said, “I hope they find comfort in a fairy tale for a little while, one that they can return to when they need a reminder of what defines a hero.”

Performances of The Last Unicorn will be held at The Tampa Fringe Theater, located at the West Annex inside Kress Contemporary at 1624 E. Seventh Ave. in Tampa. The performance dates are Thursday through Sunday, August 13-16 and 20-23.

For ticket information and performance times, visit https://theatre.tampafringe.org/events/the-last-unicorn/.