Henny Penny makes stage magic

Hamilton, Ohio – She grew up making magic on stage.

In her grandmother’s Michigan basement.

Elliet Malatesta’s first performances came as a child, serving as the self-described “beautiful assistant” in her older sister’s magic show performed for family and neighbors.

Malatesta graduated from grandma’s basement, from Ryle High School and Northern Kentucky University and from the Ensemble Theatre Acting Internship Program in Cincinnati. She matriculates to her first post-graduate professional acting contract with The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati and brings the TCT on Tour production of Henny Penny’s Adventures to the Fitton Center for Creative Arts Friday, September 12.

Venues may have changed over the years, but making stage magic still appeals to Malatesta.

“I desperately love it,” she said. “When I had the opportunity to see live shows when I was little, it made me fall in love. Now to have the opportunity to give back to the community, to perform for other little kids who might be seeing a live show for the first time, that’s amazing.”

So is the opportunity to tell a cherished story like Henny Penny and to share its famous words - The sky is falling! The sky is falling! – with new audiences.

“Our version is specifically dealing with the importance of telling the truth,” Malatesta said. “We’re talking about making a mistake and learning from it, but we do it in an entertaining way where kids feel safe.

“We have great sponsors like the Ohio Arts Council and ArtsWave who believe it’s important to tell these timeless stories in a fresh way. In this day and age, to see a story like this live - right in front of you and not on a screen - can be very impactful.”

It can be a challenge for a performer, too. “It’s a one-person show, but it’s also not,” Malatesta said. “I’m playing Henny Penny, of course. I also play Foxy Loxy, Mama and I narrate. But I get to pull people out of the house and work with them to help tell the story. The audience has lines. It’s interactive.

“Rehearsing with the director to work through the physicality of each character, to find the voices for all the characters, to work with the designers and costumers to pull it all together is really exciting.”

So is debuting the tour in Hamilton at the Fitton Center. Malatesta continues the tour through October 31 and picks it up again in the new year from January 5 to May 3, 2026.

“It’s a big deal,” she said. “This is the very first public performance of this show. It’s obviously my first public performance of this show. To get to do it so close to home and to have my family there in the audience, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity.”

Tickets for the September 12 Fitton Family Fridays performance – sponsored by Aglamesis Bros. Ice Cream & Chocolates - are $9 for Fitton Center members, $11 for non-members, and are available online right here, by phone at 513-863-8873, ext. 110 or in person at the Fitton Center box office. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with snacks and drinks by Two Women in a Kitchen served in the ballroom, followed by Henny Penny’s Adventures at 7:30 in the theater.

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.

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