THEATER REVIEW
“Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Grade: B
7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $30-$135. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 1-855-285-8499, www.FoxTheatre.org/Cinderella.
Bottom line: Swoon-inducing.
Impossible!
For an old Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut to become a golden confection.
It’s possible!
Yes, kiddies, thanks to a major rewrite by Douglas Carter Beaneand many trunkloads of Tony Award-winning costumes by William Ivey Long, "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella" — originally created for a 1957 telecast and seen for the first time on Broadway just two years ago — has been appealingly tweaked for modern audiences.
And though the rags-to-riches tale of the ostracized stepdaughter and her dragon-slaying prince feels about as contemporary as “Beowulf,” director Mark Brokaw’s national tour at the Fox Theatre through Sunday is a crowd-pleasing song-and-dance spectacle with the power to gladden the hearts of even the grumpiest of theatergoers.
Yep, that would be me.
Though I have fond memories of the 1965 TV treatment and can even sing along to “In My Own Little Corner” and “Impossible,” I fear those glass slippers and golden pumpkins have lost some of the sheen of days gone by.
Though Beane emphasizes themes of kindness, girl power and taking care of the poor, his quippy version may appeal more to the “The Beauty and the Beast” set than “The Book of Mormon” crowd. Still, where it lacks irony, it packs gossamer design, sterling performances and splendid dance.
It’s, well, impossible not to like Andy Huntington Jones’ charmingly naive Topher (as the prince is now called). To the chagrin of his drolly deceitful regent, Sebastian (Blake Hammond), Topher just wants to be treated like a regular guy. So when the ragamuffin Ella (aka Cinderella and played by Kaitlyn Davidson) gives him a drink of water, he is smitten by her uncommon kindness.
Meanwhile, Ella’s stepmother (the fabulous Blair Ross) and her “actual daughters” create lots of comic mayhem. Stepsister Charlotte (the hilarious Aymee Garcia) may be zaftig, but in her mind’s eye, she’s a catch. Garcia works her character’s lack of self-awareness to delightful effect. The other stepsister, the bespectacled Gabrielle (Kimberly Fauré), has her own suitor, the revolutionary Jean-Michel (David Andino), and she turns out to be more of an ally than bully to Ella.
In this uniformly good company, Liz McCartney (who is transformed from a crazy bag lady to a soaring fairy godmother) is very fine, as are Hammond, Andino and Chauncey Packer (Lord Pinkleton).
Some of the most glorious aspects of this “Cinderella” are the dancing. In dazzling large-scale numbers like the “Ballroom” sequence, choreographer Josh Rhodes outdoes himself. These partners don’t just bow and curtsy; they glide like swans. No matter those elaborate gowns: The men lift and spin the women as if they were as light as cotton candy.
For this tale of transformation, some of the neatest tricks are the quick changes. Look how the fox and the raccoon suddenly morph into footmen for the marvelously filigreed golden carriage, which just a split second ago was a pumpkin. Long’s costumes, Anna Louizos’ sets and Kenneth Posner’s lighting are divine.
So just when you’re ready to dismiss this make-believe story as a perfectly lovely show — for children — those old Rodgers and Hammerstein songs (“Ten Minutes Ago,” “Do I Love You Because You Are Beautiful?”) do a number on you. In a world that is too often devoid of romance and magic, it’s nice to have a reminder that “impossible things are happening everyday.”
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