Cinderella by Rodgers & Hamerstein

This Musical of Cinderella is based on the gentler, Charles Perrault version of the story, rather than that of the more gruesome Brothers Grimm. It was originally written as a film for television, but has been successfully adapted for the stage. The music was not well known but pleasant to listen to, with one haunting theme running throughout.

It had a well-designed set with no elaborate special effects and transformation scene. The Band had been set on an elevated area to the rear of the stage. It was an open stage for the village at the beginning, giving room for all the traders and villagers. One of the buildings was then pushed further on to the stage and opened up to give an excellent kitchen in the stepmother’s house, complete with mouse hole. This had been arranged on one side of the stage so that later both the kitchen and Royal Palace could be on stage together thus avoiding lengthy scene changes. The drapery for the Ballroom scene was there throughout suspended from the band platform, with a gauze in front, which was brought in and taken out appropriately. When the Fairy Godmother worked her magic to transform the pumpkin and the dress, the coach just came on from the wings and Cinderella appeared ready for the Ball. The coach was spectacular complete with white horses and very effective wheels, which were transparent umbrellas with lights strung along the spokes and round the circumference, which the mice twirled. There was good use of lighting particularly in the Royal Gardens when the moon changed into the clock; the sound effects were effective and well cued.  Costumes, make-up and wigs all looked good and fitted well.  Props and furniture had been well sourced; where ever did you acquire all those baskets and bread for the market scene?

The music for this production was not straightforward but the cast and musicians, under the direction of Rob Kempner, performed well. It could not have been easy for musicians and singers to keep together with the band positioned where it was, but they were always together. There were times when the band overpowered the voices so that we could not hear all the words.

The play had a strong cast with a good range of ages. The young people who played the animals were a delight. They were well disciplined and very supportive to poor Cinders, the cat was very playful and very restrained not eating the mice, and the dove was well controlled in his flying around the stage. A decision had been made to have two Cinderella’s in case of illness and the performance I saw had Jessica Bragg in the role. She played the role with confidence, she had excellent diction, a nice singing voice and engaged well with ‘Prince Christopher’, and she showed spirit, which she needed to survive the treatment doled out by her stepfamily. She was always well looked after by Fairy Godmother Fiona Stone. Rachel Beckett as the Stepmother gave a good performance as a haughty, mean spirited, social climber, but unfortunately her diction was not always clear and we lost some of her lines. Beth Stone as Grace and Hannah Mills as Joy, the stepsisters were thoroughly obnoxious characters, extremely spoilt and spiteful. They worked well together, creating individual characters with a united front against Cinderella; their duet was amusing and well sung. Jeremy Keck and Jenny Nixon, as The King and Queen, were suitably regal and showed all the embarrassing parental characteristics, which annoyed their son. Daniel Holden as Prince Christopher was confident in his role and showed he was not to be browbeaten by his parents. He sang and interacted well with Cinderella. The most outstanding performance for me was that of Darren Skinner as Lionel, the King’s Steward, he took a relatively small role and gave it tremendous character. 

Claire Howard had worked well with her cast and succeeded in her attempt to ‘humanise the characters without losing the plot’. There was a strong chorus who supported the principals and always enhanced the production with their singing, responses, dancing and friezes, everyone bringing something to the show. A production of this nature can fail if the supporting cast are not committed, however good the principals are.

This was a gentle alternative to Pantomime with lovely music, confident performances, colourful costumes, a set which was not over ambitious and some interesting ideas from the director, like when the Steward was taking the slipper to ladies in the audience to see if it fitted, thus giving time for a set and costume change. Well done everyone for working together as a team and providing an excellent evening’s entertainment.

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