Business is but a fairy tale for theater friends

It was fantasy at first sight when Elizabeth Golden, 18, and Peyton Chevalier, 16, met while performing together during Hendersonville Performing Arts Company's production of "Gypsy" in 2012.

"I remember seeing her because she was Alice in 'Alice in Wonderland,' and that was one of her first big characters in the company as well, and she was perfect," Golden said.

Chevalier, a high school student at Aaron Academy, was equally impressed with Golden, so, when they got the chance to work together, they became fast friends over their love of acting. But they soon realized they shared an even bigger dream.

"We were casual friends back then and God sort of threw our lives together in a way we would never expect," said Golden, a graduate of Hendersonville High School. "But we both had a dream of doing characters, and he just sort of brought us together in perfect timing and it worked out wonderfully."

Each of the girls had a dream fairy tale role special to their hearts that they wanted to act out for local children — Golden's was Beauty from "Beauty and the Beast," and Chevalier's was the Mermaid Princess. They had each been independently working on custom costumes and decided to team up to create a business. Character Visits 4 U was born.

"We originally wanted to bring those characters to children in the hospital, and really any children who wouldn't normally get to meet those characters," Chevalier said. "It sort of turned into this wonderful business, and we always try to incorporate doing lots of charity work because that is where it started and that is the heart of the whole thing."

The first characters they began appearing as were the Snow Sisters because of the popularity of "Frozen," then added their favorites.

Together, the two also appear at birthday parties now and local business meet-and-greets, now up to 10-15 a month. It is usually just the two of them taking on a variety of fairy tale characters, but they have employed a few other local entertainers to play boy characters as well as another girl who plays Cinderella and Tinkerbell.

"We want to bring a light into a child's life because sometimes you need that little burst of magic and hope in your life, and that is true for kids of all ages, from 1 to 101," Chevalier said.

Creating the characters

The girls take special care not to violate copyright laws when creating their costumes, using only items and styles they have created themselves from stories and tales that are centuries old. They do not use any Disney products and have instead learned to sew from Golden's grandmother, putting most of the money they earn from appearances back into the business adding to existing characters and creating new ones.

"I am a pinch pocket, but it seems these characters take all my money," Golden said. "We are learning how to sew but my grandmother is like a fairy grandmother. She is talented with the sewing machine and we are so blessed to have her on the team."

Chevalier said the effort and care they put into their costumes is one of the keys to their success.

"We like to add on to make them better because there is always room for improvement, and we love improving our characters," she said.

They expect business to be even more brisk soon, with summer months bringing outdoor festivals and more opportunities to do appearances.

"We are always looking to expand and do more, and that is on top of school and life and theater," Golden said. "It has been quite the adventure since we started."

And the two have no plans on slowing their growth, only working harder to continually expand their business, with Golden even taking business classes to help guide them in their venture.

"I see this going so much farther," Golden said. "I want to continue to do this for a long time. I think this is my calling, even when I am too old to princess as an actress, I want to take on a team of girls to expand it even more in the future."

Chevalier feels the same way, and feels that not only is this a calling, but a dream come true, for her and the children they get to bring magic and encouragement to.

"It is great to meet the kids as the characters because we always try to ask them, 'What's your dream?' I think that is very special for them to hear their favorite character believe in their dreams and to encourage them that anything is possible and they can do anything," she said.

Golden is currently playing Eponine in Hendersonville Performing Arts Company's production of "Les Miserables" through Sunday.

Character Visits 4 U

• Current characters: Snow Sisters, Little Mermaid (land or sea versions), Cinderella, Beauty (town or ballgown versions), Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Evil Fairy, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and Wendy, Dorothy, Alice in Wonderland and Queen of Hearts, Frog Princess, Mary Poppins, spider hero, pirate and elf.

•To get more information or to book live, interactive visits from a variety of characters, call 615-479-6296 or email chractervisits4u@gmail.com. Rates are $95/hour for one character, $175/hour for two.