Nuffield Southampton Theatres Announce CinderELLA THE MUSICAL As Its 2019 Christmas Show

Nuffield Southampton Theatres today announces CinderELLA The Musical, adapted and directed by Michael Fentiman with music and additional lyrics by Barnaby Race, as their 2019 Christmas show. This new adaptation of the classic myth features two protagonists, the younger Cinders who feels old beyond her years and the older Ella who remembers when she danced as a girl at the Midnight Ballroom. The production opens at Nuffield Southampton Theatres - NST City on 29 November, with previews from 23 November, and runs until 5 January 2020.

Cinders feels old before her time and Ella feels like she's running out of time. Throw in the reopening of the Grand Ballroom, a not so charming Prince and two nasty step-nieces and you've got yourself a CinderELLA story: the musical remix.

Join Cinders and Ella this Christmas as they explore what it means to feel a little lost and find yourself again. CinderELLA is a magical fairytale extravaganza featuring step-nieces Ivanka and Melania, that even Love Island would reject, the hapless and hopelessly in love Daniel Deeni and the nice (but dim) Prince Tim. (Charming!).

This CinderELLA story combines Freaky Friday with a tale as old as time, to offer a hilarious musical Christmas treat for the whole family.

Director Michael Fentiman said today "I am incredibly excited to be developing CinderELLA The Musical with Nuffield Southampton Theatres this Christmas. Barnaby and I wanted to write a musical that refocused the famous fairytale. We wanted to find a way of talking about isolation and transformation not just from the perspective of a downtrodden ingenui, but also from the perspective of an older lady. I am looking forward to developing a musical with two female leads, that talks about how fairytale can be possible, whatever your age."

Michael Fentiman's theatre credits as director include Amélie: The Musical (The Watermill Theatre/UK tour/The Other Palace), The Taming of the Shrew (Sherman Theatre/Tron Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Vaudeville Theatre), The Last Days of Anne Boleyn (Historic Royal Palaces/Tower of London), Loot (Park Theatre/The Watermill Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, Ahasverus (RSC), Babe, the Sheep-Pig (Polka Theatre/UK tour), The War Has Not Yet Started (Drum Theatre, Plymouth), Minotaur (Theatr Clwyd/Polka Theatre), Raising Martha (Park Theatre), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Kensington Palace Gardens - as co-director with Rupert Goold), Crackers (Belgrade Theatre), Spoonface Steinberg (Theatr Clwyd/Citizens Theatre/UK tour), East (UK tour), Ajax (European tour), The Comedy of Errors, Robin Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Sweeney Todd (RAM/Theatre Royal Stratford East), and Made in Dagenham (Adelphi Theatre - as Associate Director to Rupert Goold).

Barnaby Race is a musical director and composer. His credits include Amélie: The Musical (The Watermill Theatre/UK tour/The Other Palace), A Christmas Carol (Theatre Clwyd), The Secret Garden (Theatre by the Lake/York Theatre Royal), Romeo + Juliet, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Secret Cinema), The Last Days of Anne Boleyn (Historic Royal Palaces/Tower of London), Babe, the Sheep-Pig (Polka Theatre/UK tour), Pine (Hampstead Theatre), Minotaur (Polka Theatre/Theatr Clwyd), The Devil Speaks True (VAULT Festival), How to be Immortal (Soho Theatre/UK tour), Alice: The Ballet (Marlowe Theatre), Cesario (National Theatre). Race was Musical Director for the Welcome Ceremonies at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. His film credits include additional music, orchestral arranging/vocal recording for The Harry Hill Movie; song writing for Lizard Girl and composition and sound design for Playing the Game.

To post a comment, you must register and login.