CINDERELLA Previews Thread. — Page 14

The website has Laura singing "In My Own Little Corner" on the site, that voice alone will get me to buy a ticket.

Wicked isn't an adaptation of the Baum/MGM property. If it had been billed as an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz of course we would have taken issue.

I think the TV version should be fleshed for Broadway, but this production isn't fleshed out- it's bloated. R&H can be very political/social: South Pacific, Carousel, King & I. These shows were also written with an adult audience in mind. Cinderella is a family show that many young children will attend. Parents will be spending a lot of money to take their children to the show and they shouldn't be misled with false advertising.

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You're hitting the nail on the head Whizzer. It isn't really about whether political and social issues should be allowed in a fairy tale retelling. The point is that you hear Rodgers and Hammerstein and you expect something at least close to what you grew up with. If it was a brand new show with brand new music, it wouldn't be much of an issue.

I do think that in its current state, it can agitate quite a number of people. The specific politics should be taken out. There's nothing wrong with a message of kindness and helping the poor. The way it is approached will likely only cause boredom or controversy.

Again, there's a lot of potential here. The cast is fantastic. The production team just needs to take a hard look at the book and figure out what needs to be cut to best reach the widest audience.

So Belle, you think the music (and maybe the trunk songs) are strong enough to make a show?

This has been part of my argument of "does this really need to be on Broadway" this was a television project. To me blowing it up to something larger really changes it's initial goal. Unless the bookwriter really has an incredible angle (let's say something like Wicked's) why would anyone care to see this TV project? The cast aside.

Most fairy tales are sexist. All the women get saved by men and they all get makeovers to be prettier. It's pretty grotesque. I'd try to keep my kids away from fairy tales. And ever since someone mentioned Annie in the bathtub with Daddy Warbucks that show grosses me out too.

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Hmmm...not quite even sure where to begin with this one.

I suppose I'll start with the design. William Ivey Long once again proves that he can do no wrong. The costumes are whimsical, colorful and quite stunning. Dress transformations happened a few times throughout the show, and although the concept is quite simple, seeing the transformations executed on stage took my breath away each time.

I am generally a fan of Anna Louizos, but her set designs are severely misguided for this production. Cinderellas cottage and the town square might as well have been plucked from Beauty and the Beast. The missed opportunities in regards to the castle set actually make my heart ache. Two arch ways and some two dimensional chandeliers don't make for a Broadway caliber castle in my book. Cinderella's grand entrance at the ball was not made at the top of a sweeping staircase, she simply entered stage right. The clock that appeared at the end of the first act to strike midnight looked an awful lot like a big projection to me. The sliding trees that were present throughout the show looked like a high school students paper mache project. With all this said, assume that the small carriage and its transformation also falls way short.

With the exception of the two leads; the cast was very shticky and frankly not very funny. Laura Osnes proves herself as a true triple threat here. HUGE kudos to her for somehow finding a charming and truthful portrayal with the dialogue written for this new book. Santino Fontana, although a bit fey, had some nice moments and sings beautifully.

The choreography was very lovely.

Ugh, the book. I don't know where to start or how to express all my thoughts in a coherent paragraph, so I'll be vague. Everything that is so beloved about the original is changed. The show is boring. The jokes arent funny. I came to see Cinderella, not a political lesson on taxes and poor starving people. You can hardly call this show 'Cinderella' anymore.

What a shame this was. I had ALOT more faith. The gorgeous score even seems boring and underwhelming within the confines of this disappointing production. How dare they screw up the beloved show this badly??

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Out of curiosity, what exactly IS the Jean-Michel Plotline? What does he do other than "be a political rebel" and "fall in love with Stepsister #1?" Specifically, what does he do in the show?

ChairinMain, What does Jean-Michel do? Other than pontificate?

We first meet Jean-Michel in the scene before "My Own Little Corner." He trash talks the prince a little bit, but Cinderella defends the royal heir, although she barely knows him herself. Jean-Michel gives Cinderella a book that describes how other cultures in all different parts of the world live. This is what causes her to sing about all the places in "My Own Little Corner."

Jean-Michel is all over the map in this scene. One moment he's all "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and the next he's doing schtick, like someone previously mentioned. For example, his exit line went something like this: Off I go. By my lonesome. All alone. I'm a Loner...You're coming with me, right Marie?

Was this stuff written for Nathan Lane?

Also of note is Jean-Michel's costume. He is not wearing the rags of the other Hooverville-ites, and he certainly is well-educated, well-spoken, etc. We get no information about who Jean-Michel is, why he is so invested in his cause or anything like that.

Jean-Michel appears in the town square where he sings Now Is The Time. The townspeople are inspired and are ready to back the revolution. Unfortunately for Jean-Michel, Lord Pinkleton shows up to sing "The Prince is Giving a Ball," which is eventually sung in counterpoint to "Now Is The Time." The people are torn between the ball and the cause. They opt for the ball and Jean-Michel is dejected by this bump in the road.

Another time we see Jean-Michel is while Cinderella is helping the Step-Sisters get ready for the ball. He brings both his beloved and the Step-Mother a bouquet of wildflowers. The Step-Mother throws him out and dismisses him as an inappropriate match for her daughter. (You see Bartlett and Harris are in cahoots. Bartlett previously paid a visit to the cottage to tell Harris the prince would be in a white mask and to make sure her daughter would be in a pink one. That way they could rig who was chosen at the ball.)

Jean-Michel makes a date to take Gabrielle to a soup kitchen. She does love to ladle after all! For some reason they do a Fred and Adele dance routine (that goes on forever) before leaving for Hooverville.

Cinderella and the prince (in disguise) also show up to shantytown. We see they couldn't serve the soup because the people were too poor to even make the soup. Jean-Michel has had enough. It's time to march on the palace; a coup d'etat is the only way to bring equality to the land. Luckily Cinderella still has her book about all the different cultures of the world. She turns to the page on Greece and teaches the people about democracy and free elections.

What doesn't make sense is the first person the rebels would vote out of power would be the prince. Bartlett wouldn't be enough to satisfy the massive. Bartlett was the evil one, but he did it all under the nose of the prince. That doesn't seem to matter though. Jean-Michel is all talk and caves into this idea about free elections rather than storming the Bastille.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS
Election day comes around and Jean-Michel and Bartlett are tied. (If there really are so many peasant I don't know how this could be a reality, but nevermind.) Only one person hasn't cast her vote, and that's the Step-Mother. Will she have a change of heart? She does and votes for Jean-Michel. He is elected Prime Minister of the land and everyone lived happily ever after.

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Yea it seems like the Prince could just come to the realization that that the monarch isn't working on his own. Maybe seeing Cinderella chatting with the Hooverilians would do it. Had Jasmine given up the throne, that would have made a much deeper story.


It seems really far-fetched some oppressed people would turn-around a revolution so fast. Does the Jafar character have a sidekick? The election bit is just out-there. But so are pumpkin carriages.

As far as the politics here, tax cuts for the rich is really old news. It's not like the last election cycle invented it.

That's exactly what I felt was so wrong with this show. By that point, I couldn't care less what happened. I was just getting antsy to get out of the theater. There's no emotional tie to the Jean Michel storyline. Cinderella is the only character you really want to root for (maybe because Laura is just so charming). Then they have to muddle the romance by making their relationship more about Cinderella trying to convince him to change the kingdom. It caused the songs about falling hopelessly in love to just feel out of place.

The end result really came across as writers trying desperately to get their political ideas into the plot, even if it didn't really mesh with the story.

And regarding audience reactions, I really only heard one or two big laughs. So I don't think I'm the only one who felt a bit disconnected.

I guess I like the idea that the prince is kinda forced into marrying a stepsister because they are from a higherclass. Cinderella being a commoner seems like enough for the prince to change his ways.

I agree with "The excitement should be "will the prince find his missing mystery lady?" but it is Cinderella's arc so its more about will Cinderella be loved found, identified and loved despite her rags. I LOVE the suspense (SPOILER ALERT) in the Disney version when the slipper is broken. All is lost at the point. Then inexplicably she has the other one (weird magic logic).

Is the part where Cinderella's stepsister destroy her mom's old dress? I think I saw that in a regional production of this once.

SPOILER ALERT.

SPOILERS

No, but there is a similar scene. Gabrielle decides to play sick to get out of going to the banquet so she can go to the soup kitchen with Jean Michel instead. She then gives Cinderella the dress she was supposed to wear so that Cinderella could go to the banquet in her place. (Gabrielle knows that Cinderella was the mystery girl at the ball.) When Cinderella changes into that dress, her step mother comes in, discovers Jean Michel and Gabrielle together, and is enraged. She then rips the dress Cinderella is wearing to shreds. Eventually, what is left of that dress will magically transform to the Belle-style dress she ends up wearing to the banquet.