I was able to make it to Cinderella tonight, and boy is it rough. It's comforting to know that when one revolutionary departs (Evita), another- Miss Ella the girl of the cinders- is able to rise from the ashes and lead her people to free elections and fair taxes for all!! Screw R&H. If there is one song this production desperately needs more than any other it's "A New Argentina." It practically fits better in this show than Evita anyway.
My biggest complaint is that the show is too damn long. It's almost 3 hours, which is ridiculous. I realize they probably felt that at 75 minutes the show would feel too anemic for Broadway prices, but the solution wasn't to stuff the poor thing till it looked like Monica Geller's fat suit. The first 15 minutes (after the overture) should be cut. There's a stupid battle between a tree ogre thing and the prince, followed by a banal song for the prince. Santino sounds great, but it makes for a slow start and in the end it's all very extraneous stuff.
Then as others have mentioned we have Crazy Marie, the beggar woman. She does her "alms, alms for a miserable woman," routine for a while, and of course Cinderella is the only one who is nice to her. Peter Bartlett is the evil minister who rules the kingdom. He teaches the prince that it's better to give tax cuts to the rich than to the poor. When you start giving out charity everyone shows up for a handout, but best to give the poor something before they revolt and take everything. Basically we have a Mittens redux.
Possibly the biggest misstep is adding the character of Jean-Michel. He is our revolutionary fighting to bring equality to the land. Gabrielle, one of the step-sisters, is secretly in love with him and not evil at all. In the second act Jean-Michel takes Gabrielle to soup kitchen on a date (hey- she likes to ladle), and right when he's about to lead the ensemble in a rousing "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover" Cinderella and the Prince show up to explain how democracy began in ancient Greece with free elections. Let's have one now!
Because Gabrielle is in love with Jean-Michel, Charlotte (Ann Harada) is forced to sing the Stepsister's Lament with the female ensemble. It's not nearly as funny this way, though Ann tries her best to sell it. Harriet Harris has a very weird step-mother to deal with. Her character is all over the map and has pivotal role to play at the end...
*****SPOILER
She is the one to cast the final vote for the new prime minister and she has a change of heart and opts for Jean-Michel!
*****END SPOILER
The added songs don't do much for show. They make it feel bloated, and as some have noted, they don't mesh very well with the original songs. "I haven't got a Worry in the World" is especially tedious in this over long production.
The cast is the best thing about the show. Laura Osnes is really, really good. She sounds fantastic and does her best with all the social justice stuff. She really would be terrific as Cinderella in "Into the Woods," and I was hoping that would just let her sing "On the Steps of the Palace" to end act one.
Victoria Clark sounds lovely too, and "Impossible" is fun. The dress transformations are great and I liked the pumpkin coach.
I don't know why they just didn't tell the Cinderella story we all know and love. The addition of the political stuff bogged down the piece, and at three hours I just desperately wanted it to be over. I absolutely would never recommend something so long to a family with young children. It's too much, and the Jean-Michel storyline wouldn't hold their interest- it barely held mine.
BTW, the back half the rear mezz has been curtained off. How does that affect the gross potential? Do they count those seats as unsold, or since they were never on sale do they not factor in the percentage?
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
What did you think of the set (and how was Cinderella's house done)? And what were some of the special effects that were noteworthy? 
