Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Beane musical)

Stuart Damon, as the Prince; Lesley Ann Warren, as Cinderella (1965)

The original 1957 broadcast starred Julie Andrews as Cinderella and Jon Cypher as the Prince.[1] More than 107 million viewers saw the broadcast.[2][3] The musical was staged at the London Coliseum in 1958 in a holiday pantomime adaptation that also used songs from Me & Juliet.[4] Rodgers and Hammerstein signed with CBS.[5] Stage versions began to appear in U.S. theatres by 1961.[4]

After the musical's success in its initial broadcast and as a stage production, and since the original TV version had not been filmed for rebroadcast, CBS mounted another production in 1965 with a new script that hewed closer to the traditional tale, and nearly all of the original songs.[4][6] Lesley Ann Warren played the title role.[7] The New York City Opera produced the musical in 1993 and revived it several times.[8] A United States tour played from 2000 to 2001,[9][10] stopping at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.[11][12] A 1997 television re-make, adapted by Robert L. Freedman and directed by Robert Iscove, was choreographed by Rob Marshall. Its racially diverse cast featured Brandy as Cinderella, Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother, Bernadette Peters as her stepmother, and Paolo Montalban as the Prince. Several songs were added.[13][14] A 30-week Asian tour starred Lea Salonga, beginning in 2008,[15] and an all-female production of the musical in Japan in 2008 featured J-Pop group Morning Musume and veteran members of the Takarazuka Revue.[16][17]

In Douglas Carter Beane's version of the story, Cinderella opens Prince Topher's eyes to the injustice in the kingdom. The Prince's parents have died, leaving the kingdom in the hands of a villainous prime minister, who has been the Prince's mentor and has duped his young charge into approving oppressive legislation.[18] The rebel Jean-Michel, a new character, and stepsister Gabrielle are in love, and the two seek to overthrow the government. The score includes the best-known songs from the original version and features four songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalog, including "Now Is the Time", cut from South Pacific.[19] The show was given workshop productions in 2012.[20][21]

The musical's first Broadway production began previews on January 25, 2013 and opened on March 3, 2013 at The Broadway Theatre.[22] Mark Brokaw directed the production, with Josh Rhodes choreographing, and the original cast included Laura Osnes in the title role, Santino Fontana as the Prince, Victoria Clark as Crazy Marie/the Fairy Godmother, Harriet Harris as Ella's stepmother, Peter Bartlett as Sebastian, The Prime Minister, Ann Harada and Marla Mindelle as stepsisters Charlotte and Gabrielle, and Greg Hildreth as the rebel Jean-Michel.[11] Designers included Anna Louizos (sets), William Ivey Long (costumes), and Kenneth Posner (lighting).[23] The show's initial reviews were mixed.[24][25][26]

Rebecca Luker replaced Clark from September 2013 to January 2014.[27] Carly Rae Jepsen and Fran Drescher were replacements for Ella and the Stepmother, both making their Broadway debuts, from February 2014 to June 2014.[28][29] Paige Faure stepped into the role of Ella, and Nancy Opel played the Stepmother, from June through September 2014.[30] Keke Palmer, Sherri Shepherd, and Judy Kaye joined the cast as Ella, the Stepmother, and the Fairy Godmother in September 2014.[31][32] A report in The Guardian commented, regarding Palmer, that "casting an African American actor as such an iconic – and typically pale – character is emblematic of the progress Broadway is making, slowly and haltingly, in employing actors of color in a broader array of parts."[33] On September 23, 2014, Lesley Ann Warren joined the cast during the curtain call to celebrate the 50th-anniversary release of her 1965 television version.[34] NeNe Leakes replaced Shepherd from November 2014. The production closed on January 3, 2015, after 41 previews and 770 regular performances.[35]

A US national tour began on October 10, 2014, in Providence, Rhode Island,[36] and closed in May 2016.[37][38] Faure starred as Ella opposite Andy Jones as Topher.[39] Fran Drescher reprised the role of the Stepmother during the tour's engagement in Los Angeles in March and April 2015.[40] The tour recouped its investment after six months.[37] A non-Equity US national tour began on September 27, 2016, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was directed by Gina Rattan and choreographed by Lee Wilkins.[41]

A touring production in Australia began at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne, in May 2022,[42] moved to the Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, in August,[43] and opened at the Sydney Lyric theatre in October 2022; it closed on 29 January 2023.[44] The cast includes Shubshri Kandiah as Ella; Ainsley Melham as Prince Topher; Silvie Paladino as Marie; Tina Bursill as Madame, and Todd McKenney as Sebastian.[45][46][47] Nicholas Hammond took over the role of Sebastian for the musical's engagements in Brisbane and Sydney.[48]

The musical was revived at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, England, for a limited run from November 1 through December 11, 2022, with an opening night on November 6.[49] Grace Mouat starred as Ella,[50] with Jacob Fowler as Prince Topher, Annie Aitken as Madame, Julie Yammanee as Marie/Godmother, Lee Ormsby as Sebastian, Matthew McDonald as Lord Pinkleton, Katie Ramshaw as Charlotte, Olivia-Faith Kamau as Gabrielle, and Adam Filipe as Jean-Michel.[51]

Unlike the three-act television version, the 2013 Broadway production is performed in two acts with additional songs, including "Me, Who Am I?", "Now Is the Time", "The Pursuit", "Loneliness of Evening" and "There's Music in You".[52]

Notable Broadway replacements:[55]

• For Ella: Carly Rae Jepsen and Keke Palmer
• For Marie: Judy Kaye and Rebecca Luker
• For Madame: Fran Drescher, NeNe Leakes, Sherri Shepherd and Nancy Opel

Ben Brantley of The New York Times called the production a "glittery patchwork of a show" that "wants to be reassuringly old-fashioned and refreshingly irreverent, sentimental and snarky, sincere and ironic, all at once." Brantley added that the show "doesn't seem to know quite what" it wants to be.[18] The Financial Times praised the cast, especially Osnes, the costumes and the choreography and opined that "the production is an absolute joy, marred only by occasional slowness of pace."[56] Richard Zoglin, writing for Time magazine, noted that the new production is "brightly colored, high spirited and well sung", but comparing it with the "emotionally alive" 1957 broadcast, he found the original stepsisters to be "more credible and less cartoonish than their present-day equivalents" and thought that the Prince and Cinderella "make a dreamier pair – you actually can believe they are falling in love. ... The new Broadway version, for all its hip updating, is a much less adventurous project."[57] A reviewer from the Chicago Tribune wrote:

The fundamental problem with ... Beane's perplexing, wholly unromantic and mostly laugh-free new book ... – which turns the heroine into a social reformer ... the stepsisters ... into sympathetic, wounded creatures of thwarted desire, and Prince Charming ... into a myopic dunce who needs his eyes opened to the poverty of his people – is that it denies the audience the pleasure of instant reversals of fortune. ... This new version ends up collapsing the basic logic of the familiar story and tramples all over the musical soul of a score from another era.[24]

On the other hand, an Associated Press review praised Beane's script and wrote that it "crackles with sweetness and freshness, combining a little Monty Python's Spamalot with some Les Misérables. It also found the cast "first-rate" and the overall story "quirky, yet heart filled".[58] The reviewer from USA Today also liked the production, commenting:

Osnes and a gifted supporting cast make this fairy tale very much their own – a scrumptious trifle that, for all its hokey moments, will charm theatergoers of all ages. Beane['s] Cinderella is not merely a kind maiden in distress, but a curious young woman becoming aware of injustices beyond her own shabby treatment. ... If the twist sounds a bit like a post-feminist contrivance, Beane keeps things sufficiently light and whimsical; the satire may verge on dopey at times, but it's never pretentious. And Brokaw elicits breezy, witty performances from his players, who could hardly be better suited to their roles. ... The visual effects are ... more dazzling than the score.[25]

An original Broadway cast recording of the production was issued by Ghostlight Records in 2013. The album features arrangements of the score by David Chase and was conducted by Andy Einhorn. Orchestrations are by Danny Troob.[59]

The musical was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning only one for William Ivey Long's costume design.[60] It received five Drama Desk Award nominations,[61] winning three, for Outstanding Orchestrations, Costume Design and, for Osnes, Outstanding Actress in a Musical.[62] It was also nominated for two Drama League Awards but did not win either,[63] and for eight Outer Critics Circle Awards, winning one for costume design.[64]

• ​Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella​ at the Playbill Vault
• Cinderella at Broadwaymusicalhome.com
• Cinderella at Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals