The Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall was pretty packed Saturday night when Abby Kacsandi’s production of “Ella Enchanted” put on its second performance of the weekend. I was thrilled when I found out that the play was adapted from the book, not the movie. Having read the books many times as a little girl, this play was a little closer to home than others.

As the play began, I was instantly charmed by Megan Lilly, who played Ella, and Lauren Miller, who was the narrator and told the story from Ella’s point of view. Miller’s voice was perfect for the narration and she easily meshed childhood Ella with adult Ella.

Lilly was perfect for Ella in every way, shape and form. She looked like Ella should look and her acting was superb – while others in the cast overacted horribly, Lilly perfectly balanced her character’s ups and downs and remained consistent and lovable throughout the show.

Sarah Allan played Mandy, Ella’s fairy godmother. While her acting left a little something to be desired, Allan’s voice was perfect for the role of a small, old fairy godmother, quiet and charming, always trying to help Ella. There was something extra precious when she said the words “My sweet” that endeared her as a fairy godmother many people would want.

Tony Glessner played Char, Ella’s love interest and the prince of her country. In all honesty, I didn’t expect much from Glessner and I will now apologize for that. He held his own extremely well and was relaxed and charming. Besides Lilly, he had his lines down the best and played his character with what looked like total ease.

Malyn Collins played Olive, one of Ella’s evil stepsisters, though instead of being evil she was just rather slow. She drew most of the laughs from the crowd and was greatly applauded when she took her bow. Collins was an excellent Olive, being obnoxious, slow and funny without overacting and delivering her lines perfectly without too much force. She was one of my favorites.

Christina Neely played an excellent Dame Olga, the greedy stepmother to Ella. She proved that there are no small parts. Neely was an excellent evil stepmother and was good at being snotty and witchy without overdoing it. Her voice was also perfect for her role.

Jacob Poiner was also very good at his small role as Ella’s father. He was exactly what her father should be, quiet but forceful. He and Lilly had one scene where they were in a fight and shouting and it went well. For the most part, though, Poiner played a quiet man who is miserable and greedy. He also delivered some excellent lines, especially after he married Dame Olga for her money and didn’t want to love her but was cursed to do so by the fairy Lucinda. The comedic lines were well received and enjoyed.

Finally, there was not just one character that made the show, but five characters. Applause was loudest for Kurt Roberts, Malcolm Majesky, Cory Meuleman, Clay Harris and Jeff Jakmides, who all played the vicious ogres that try to eat Ella in the woods. These men were all covered in green paint and delivered their lines with grunts and hungry growls that threw the audience into fits of laughter during what was the best scene of the play.

While these actors were very good, there were parts of the play that I was disappointed with. The lack of props was distracting and the transitions between scenes didn’t seem to flow. In the end, I think I just expected more than I got. However, that does not void the effort and talent that was obviously placed into this play.

Congratulations to Abby Kacsandi on her senior project. There were plenty of things that could have gone wrong or that were not available to her, and it was clear she worked through all these problems and produced the best results she could. She cast some excellent actors and had creative ideas about how to get around obstacles that had to have presented themselves in such a small setting.