Review: RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA is Magical Family Fun

Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA is a 2013 Tony Award winning stage adaptation of the 1957 musical for television starring Julie Andrews, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The new book by Douglas Carter Beane is based partly on Hammerstein's original 1957 book. The piece was remade twice for television, once in 1965 and again in 1997, and was adapted for the stage in various versions prior to the 2013 Broadway adaptation. The 2013 score features several Rodgers and Hammerstein songs that weren't in any previous version, including one trunk song originally written for, but eventually cut from, South Pacific. The new songs include "Me, Who Am I?", "Now Is the Time", "The Pursuit", "Loneliness of Evening" and "There's Music in You".

As in the classic fairy tale Cinderella, this is the story of a young woman living in servitude under her cruel stepmother, dreaming of a better life. With help from her Fairy Godmother, she is transformed so she can attend the ball and meet her Prince. In the new book by Beane, when the Prince's parents died, they left the kingdom in the hands of the prime minister, who has duped the Prince into approving orders to take property from the populace. Jean-Michel, a new character, and now sympathetic stepsister Gabrielle are in love. Cinderella help to open Prince Topher's eyes to the injustice, created by Sebastian, in his kingdom.

Ella (Tatyana Lubov) lives with her stepmother Madame (Sarah Primmer) and stepsisters, Gabrielle (Mimi Robinson) and Charlotte (Joanna Johnson). Since the death of her late father, they have treated her like a servant. Madame named her "Cinderella" because she is dirty from the cinders of the fireplace where she sits. The prince of the kingdom is named Topher (Hayden Stanes); who is advised by Lord Chancellor Sebastian (Ryan M. Hunt). Though an expert at slaying dragons (and one very odd looking gigantic bug creature), he is unsure about how to rule as king. Prince Topher and Ella meet and she offers him a drink of water. Ella's friends include Jean-Michel (Chris Woods), a would be revolutionary, and Marie (Leslie Jackson), a crazy woman who lives at the edge of the forest. Sebastian persuades the Prince to hold a ball to find a bride. When the stepmother and stepsisters leave for the ball they leave Ella behind, but Jean-Michel arrives to argue that Prince Topher needs to know more about the people of his kingdom. Crazy Marie then reveals herself to be Ella's Fairy Godmother and transforms a pumpkin and animals into a carriage with a footman and a driver; she turns Ella's rags into a beautiful gown and sends Ella to the ball with a warning that the magic will expire at midnight.

While the basic story we've all loved over the years is there, Beane's new book shakes some things up in his re-imagining. First and foremost, this is a different Cinderella. Her main purpose for going to the ball is to confront the Prince to make him aware that people are losing their homes and land because of policies put in place in his name. And instead of leaving her glass slipper on the steps, she retrieves it and later hands it to the Prince. This is a more empowered fairy tale character than we've seen before. While the stepmother is still cruel, the stepsisters aren't. One, Gabrielle, is slightly goofy and secretly in love with Jean-Michel. She sides with Cinderella to get her to the banquet that follows the ball she ran away from. The other stepsister, Charlotte, is pure comic relief. The other big change is the snarky tongue-in-cheek tone to the script which allows for a goodly amount of sarcastic wise cracking throughout.

The sets, by Anna Louizos, are simply gorgeous and detailed fairy tale imaginings of woods, cottages and castles. The lighting, by Kenneth Posner, is also stunning, down to the dusky light shafts filtering through the trees. The costumes, by Willian Ivey Long, won the show it's sole Tony Award and are absolutely magical. Multiple dresses appear in some truly inspired slight of hand. The choreography, by Lee Wilkins, is snappy and well executed; however, often times seemed cramped on the Bass Concert Hall stage. Gina Rattan's direction kept the show moving with great fluidity and had multiple moments of stage composition that made for a visually lovely production.

The cast features solid performances throughout, with some standouts. Hayden Stanes, as Topher has a wonderful sense of comedic timing and a beautifully clear and powerful voice. Leslie Jackson, as Marie, has a lovely voice that sells some of the show's best know numbers. Sarah Primmer is a terrific wicked stepmother with great stage presence. However, the scene stealing performance of Joanna Jackson, as Charlotte, is worth the ticket price alone. She's a truly talented comedic actress with a powerful voice and makes the most of the former duet number "Stepsister's Lament" which is now a solo number backed by the other bridal rejects.

In short, while this isn't quite the story we all grew up on, it is still a fun and flashy evening of family entertainment that makes a great step forward in empowering a role model for little girls... and that is indeed a great thing.

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA: Book by Douglas Carter Beane, Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. Additional lyrics by Douglas Carter Beane and David Chase.

Running time: Approximately Two Hours and 20 Minutes with one intermission.

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA, produced by Work Light Productions and Stephen Gabriel and presented by Lexus Broadway In Austin, at Bass Concert Hall in the Texas Performing Arts Center (2350 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin, TX 78712). Performances run through Dec. 11th.

Ticket info 512-471-1444 or www.BroadwayInAustin.com

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