A New Cinderella- Page 14

[wickedfan11]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 6:05pm

I revisited the show this afternoon. Jessica Hershberg is now doing Thursday evenings and Kaitlyn Davidson is doing Saturday evenings as Ella. Also, the Woodland Creature sequence has been cut.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 7:22pm

How was Kaitlyn?

[themonkeybananaking]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 7:46pm

What happens in the beginning now, without the Woodland Creature?

[ethan231h]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:10pm

Also how were they able to do that because it isn't previews anymore

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:15pm

^Shows change all of the time, even when they are not in previews.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:23pm

Was it cut permanently, or could it have just been for one performance due to a certain number of swings and/or understudies going on?

And yes, the idea that the show is "frozen" after opening is just ultimately not true. Shows can and will continue to make changes as they see fit. They are still allowed eight hours of rehearsal a week (swings and understudies can do an additional four for a total of twelve). Those hours, if used, are typically used for brush up rehearsals and put ins, but can still be used to make changes to the show if the artistic team or producers want to. There is no rule that the show has to remain exactly as it was on opening night.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:24pm

I did hear a rumor that they had a another pop star in mind for Ella but she refused to audition.

Oh, for crap's sakes, producers!!!!!!! GET AN UNKNOWN WHO ACTUALLY TRAINS IN CLASSICAL MUSICAL THEATRE!! Why is Broadway hiring random famous people now?!

Yeah, what the heck happened to the forest monster? I guess it was removed after Santino.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:28pm

I'm not sure if they really cut it - my friend Cal is a swing in the show and has been going on as the Woodland Creature pretty frequently since Santino left.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 8:34pm

Callen Bergmann? Love that guy- he's soo talented!

I have been to show several times since Santino left, and they have not cut out the Woodlawn creature scene- Why would they?

- Point of order- we are talking about Topher's entrance scene right? I always thought it was a forest giant. LOL

[VanillaIceCream2]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 9:11pm

Wickedfan11, so the two Ella understudies are splitting their time as Ella? I read that Kaitlyn Davidson will be on this next week (Thursday and Saturday) for Ella, but didn't hear anything about her doing Saturdays permanently.

[jennaisjamazing]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 9:11pm

How do you know Jess' schedule changed? I know she's out for the week so Kaitlyn is covering her performances.. but she literally just posted something saying she goes on 25% of the time as Ella (which would be 2 performances).

And what takes place before Topher's entrance if the woodland creature scene is cut? One of my friends went last month and said it was the same..

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 10:09pm

I went after the new cast was put in and the woodland scene was still in. It may depend on whether or not the actor who has mastered stilts is out for a day.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 11:28pm

I'm not sure if they really cut it - my friend Cal is a swing in the show and has been going on as the Woodland Creature pretty frequently since Santino left.

When I was there on 3/1 the "fight" with the forest monster was still in.

[wickedfan11]

Posted: 4/21/14 at 8:01am

The character of the Woodland Creature is no longer listed in the Playbill, and only one swing was on, which meant that the other male swing could have gone on the for the part if it were still in the show. Lord Pinkleton came onstage and announced Prince Topher. The male ensemble had lines about Topher slaying dragons, capturing griffins, and dealing with unruly unicorns, and then it went into the normal lines following the Woodland Creature sequence.

VanillaIceCream2 & jennaisjamazing- The Playbill listed Jess as the Thursday evening Ella and Kaitlyn as the Saturday evening Ella, so I'm assuming this is a permanent change.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/21/14 at 10:38am

Callan Bergmann instagrammed a picture a few weeks ago that it was his last time playing the creature. Perhaps they are testing out changes they are making for the tour?

[NicoleMWright2]

Posted: 4/21/14 at 2:51pm

When I went to the matinee on the 3rd, the Woodland Creature scene was cut and the wickedfan pretty much summed up what happened. We did have a number of male understudies/swings on.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 4/21/14 at 3:32pm

The Woodland Creature is no longer in the show. After a bit of digging, I found out that a few weeks ago, one of the actor's fell because one of his stilts broke. Fortunately, the actor was not hurt. But, the producers decided to remove the scene permanently out of concern for safety. Right now, the creatives are actually working on a new idea which would involve new music, choreography and script, but they are hopeful of putting it in sometime in the next few weeks. I give them a LOT of credit for placing the safety of the actors first AND for going to the time and effort of actually re-writing the scene at this point in time.

And while I'm at it, what an incredible week it did at the box office, $1.4 million. Good for them.