BWW Reviews: EVER AFTER Trades Cinderella's Fantasy for Human Ingenuity

"Sometimes life is the most magical fairy tale of all," says the Fairy Godmother stand-in at the end of Marcy Heisler (book and lyrics) and Zina Goldrich's (music) new musical adaptation of the 1998 film, Ever After.

The character speaking the line is none other than the Renaissance Man himself, Leonardo da Vinci, an appropriate spokesman for a version of Cinderella set in 16th Century France that trades pumpkin carriages and talking mice for the magic of human ingenuity.

Like the recent revised version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella that played on Broadway with a new book by Douglas Carter Beane, Ever After presents a pro-active central female character (Danielle is her name this time.) who isn't just hoping to marry a handsome royal husband who will save her from her miserable life, but in this instance the pair nicknamed Marcy and Zina have the advantage of not having to use existing songs.

Though yet to be represented on Broadway, despite awards and accolades for their musical theatre work, the team has exhibited enormous wit and tunefulness in writing cabaret favorites such as the wistful "Taylor, The Latte Boy," the pointed "15 Pounds Away From My Love" and the hilarious "Alto's Lament."

This project seems like a natural for them and with director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall at the helm and Tony winner Christine Ebersole featured in a company that includes Julie Halston, Tony Sheldon, Charles Shaughnessy and other notable names, Ever After would seem like a natural to cross the Hudson to Times Square.

But despite the cleverness of the premise and the pedigree of the creative team, the musical is sadly lacking in spirit and clear storytelling.

Raised by her widowed father, who dies before late seating even begins, young Danielle (Isabella Jolene Burke) learned to seek wisdom from books and defend herself with the sword. She grows into a young woman played by Margo Seibert, who made such a striking impression last season as Rocky's Adrian. But the talented performer doesn't have the material in this one to help her shine. There's potential for that Marcy and Zina flair in her first song, "Who Needs Love?," but like most of the numbers in the sluggish first act, it's a perfunctory effort.

The musical's first sign of real life comes near the intermission, with a lively and fun number performed by Seibert and a band of gypsies who celebrate her as their queen after she defends herself and Prince Henry from their robbery attempt. As the prince, James Snyder's lovely baritone is well-displayed in his big ballad, but the script gives him little to play with aside from his frustration at trying to avoid arranged marriages.

Though there are some enjoyable moments in the second half, there are a lot of characters to cover, leaving some well-known stars sorely underutilized. Christine Ebersole's stepmother has a few zingers early on and her song about a mother's devotion to her daughter, "After All," is a good one, but Heisler has her alternating between being a standard evil character and one with sympathetic depth.

As the queen, the gifted clown Julie Halston always looks like she's about to do something funny, but hers is a small throwaway role, as is Charles Shaughnessy's king. Tony Sheldon manages to generate some fatherly warmth as da Vinci.

Derek McLane's set consists of period scaffolding framing projections he designed with Olivia Sebesky, beautifully depicting locations as period paintings. Jess Goldstein's costumes and Peter Kaczorowski lights add to the handsome production, but Ever After never matches the magic of clever writing and attractive composition that its authors have accomplished so well in past projects.

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