Interview: The Prince is Giving An Interview: A Moment With CINDERELLA's Prince Andy Huntington Jones

Andy Huntington Jones took a break from playing royalty to speak to Broadway World Atlanta. Find out below what Jones had to say about playing Prince Topher in the tour of the reimagined Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA.

BroadwayWorld: You play Prince Topher, but this is not Disney's CINDERELLA. This is Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, so can you give me a little bit of background about your character in this production of CINDERELLA and how it may be different from people's ideas of the prince in other versions of CINDERELLA they may have seen?

Andy: Absolutely! So, we are the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of CINDERELLA with a new script by Douglas Carter Beane. Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted and wrote music for the classic Cinderella story in the 50s with Julie Andrews for television for CBS. It was remounted on TV again in the 60s with Leslie Ann Warren and in the 90s with the version that I grew up with Whitney Houston and Brandi. Are you familiar with that one?

BroadwayWorld: Yes!

Andy: So it's that music. It's the Rodgers and Hammerstein music that we have known for the past 60 years, and this is the first time it has ever made it to Broadway. I was in the original Broadway production in 2013. I was the understudy for Prince Topher. Now, I'm getting to play it on the road which is a treat. The character of the prince is usually this stick figure archetype. In most version of CINDERELLA, there is no reason for him to be fleshed out. He is the goal. He is why Cinderella doesn't want to be a maid anymore. He is the other side of the tracks. He is the kind of guy who stands there in a sash looking to get married. In our version, Prince Topher is about to become king. He is a smart guy, but he has not really been taught how to rule effectively. He feels a little bit lost, and all of a sudden, they are throwing this big party for him to find a wife. He has never even talked to a girl before, so he is totally in over his head until Cinderella walks into the door. He is immediately comfortable with her and feels something special. What's great about our version is we have taken a love story that is essentially, in most versions, about a makeover. It's about this girl from a difficult situation who gets a beautiful dress, and that is the reason the prince falls in love with her more or less. In our version, the dress gets her in the door, but Cinderella and the prince fall in love with each other because they make each other better. They teach each other something about something. He teaches her that she is special and that the kindness she shows to other people sets her apart. She teaches him that by caring for all of the people in your kingdom he can be a great king. I think that is something special about this version. Not only do we have this music that people have known for the past 60 years, even if they did not know from where- we have "Ten Minutes Ago", "Do I Love You Because You Are Beautiful?", "In My Own Little Corner", these classic Rodgers and Hammerstein songs- but we have them with this updated witty book by Douglas Carter Beane. It's incredibly funny and incredibly savvy and smart. The takeaway message is that with kindness anything is possible. You could become a princess. You could also change the whole kingdom. You could change the world.

Broadwayworld: Well, good. It sounds like a good message for all of the young girls who will probably be in the audience.

Andy: It's nice to be working on a show that is positive. We have the honor of providing a lot young people's first theatrical experience. At the same time, Douglas Carter Beane who wrote our script has this incredibly witty sense of humor, and it courses through the entire show. The audience is laughing along through the entire show, and at the end, they find through the show they heard the message that through kindness anything is possible. You can be whatever you want to be, and impossible things are happening every day. But you don't feel like you're getting hit over the head with it.

Broadwayworld: You said that you did the role on Broadway, and now, you get to tour the show. Can you talk about the differences that you have found about doing the show on the road verses doing the show on Broadway?

Andy: The biggest difference for me is actually playing the role every night. I played the part about 50 times on Broadway. I was the understudy, so I was in the ensemble dancing in the back. When our Prince, Santino Fontana- who is the voice of Hans in Frozen, was away recording and promoting that apparently biggest movie of all time, I got to go on for him while he was out of the building. To get to do it every night and to get to explore this character has been incredibly rewarding. By the time we get to Atlanta, we will have done the show about 400 times on the road, and I did it about 400 times on Broadway. This telling of the story makes it possible to do it every night and have it feel like the first time because I relate to Prince Topher a lot. He feels overwhelmed sometimes. Often, he feels awkward in social situations, but at his core, he is a good guy with a good heart. He just wants to be liked, and he wants to do what is best. He just wants to be good at his job. That has been the biggest thing about touring is getting to play him every night and find new things about him and more way to identify with him. On a purely technical basis, touring is different because you are seeing all of these different cities. It helps to keep it fresh because you truly have a new audience every week.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA plays Atlanta's Fabulous Fox Theatre (660 Peachtree Street NE) November 3-8, 2015. For more info and to purchase tickets, please visit http://foxtheatre.org.

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