Critic's Pick
Think you know the story of Cinderella — wicked stepfamily, pumpkin coach, charming prince, glass slipper, happy ending? A new version, currently onstage at Downtown’s Aronoff Center, blows the fairy dust off that old tale (which could probably be told in a half hour) and the result is an entertaining, contemporary-feeling musical.
It began as a made-for-TV production in 1957 with music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Featuring a young Julie Andrews, it drew an immense audience (more than 100 million viewers). It showed up on TV again (1965, 1997) and has been presented for years as a stage production that’s pretty rather than exciting. But in 2013 it was wholly remade for Broadway with a new script by playwright Douglas Carter Beane and five tunes added from other Rodgers and Hammerstein works. It’s staged with dazzling rainbow of costumes and gorgeous choreography (Josh Rhodes). It’s now on tour, and it’s a delight.
Paige Faure is a charming, spunky Ella. Her mean-spirited stepmother, the soul of ridicule played by Beth Glover, calls her Cinder-Ella because she’s filthy from cleaning. She's a nice girl in an unhappy place, but she’s always chipper and kind. Early on, she accidentally meets Prince Topher (Andy Jones), who’s goofy, naïve and eager to do more than slay dragons.
Marie (Kecia Lewis), a crazy woman in the woods, turns out to be Cinderella’s high-flying fairy godmother. The stepsisters aren’t so wicked, and that makes them all the more interesting. Charlotte is really just jealous (Aymee Garcia, whose “Stepsister’s Lament” is a hilarious highlight), and Gabrielle is secretly sweet (Ashley Park) with a crush on a dweeby activist (David Andino) who tries to alert the Prince to abuses imposed on the peasantry.
Yes, it’s all kind of latter-day, but the story remains familiar — although the glass slipper doesn’t get lost after the ball. At a later moment, Cinderella deliberately plants it in front of the Prince so he is sure to find her. She’s not sure she deserves a royal boyfriend, but her godmother convinces her that it’s not “Impossible” in one of Rodgers’ catchiest melodies.
There were lots of kids with their parents on opening night, and everyone had a ball — joining Cinderella and her Prince at their ball.
CINDERELLA, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati at the Aronoff Center, continues through Jan. 18.
