Cinderella has been retold hundreds of times, but the oldest being traced all the way back to between 7 BC and 23 AD in ancient Egypt. The one we have come to be familiar or rather what our versions of Cinderella have been based upon, was written in French by Charles Perrault in 1867. This one contained the magical pumpkin carriage, the glass slippers and the fairy godmother. The Cinderella musical was originally written for and presented on television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, which was watched by over 100 million viewers!! Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella has been remade many times for television, one I remember sitting down and watching on the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night starring Brandy, and most recently again in 2015 by Disney. The original Broadway production of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella opened in 2013, all the while also being remade into different versions: A Cinderella Story, Ella Enchanted, or Ever After...I could go on and on. As you can see we have been enthralled by the magic of Cinderella for years!
The new Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella musical has some new elements. In 2013, when it was adapted for Broadway starring MN native Laura Osnes some new plot points were added, along with more magical moments (we won’t spoil those) and new characters, which we will talk about in a later post. It still holds all the favorite tunes and underlining story of a girl forced into servitude by her evil step-mother and finding love with the prince with the assistance of her Fairy Godmother. You will recognize the classic music (In My Own Little Corner, Ten Minutes Ago, Impossible to name a few), but the characters are a bit more modern with a few new songs brought to life including “Loneliness of Evening” which was cut from the original 1957 version. In the updated plot, Cinderella opens Prince Topher's (short for Christopher) eyes to the injustice in the kingdom. The Prince's parents have died, leaving the kingdom in the hands of a villainous prime minister, Sebastian, until Topher finishes at the University. The rebel, Jean-Michel, a new character, and stepsister Gabrielle are in love, and the two seek to overthrow the government (rather a Monarchy). Besides Cinderella wanting to go to the ball (and the banquet- yes! A second ball in this story, similar to the original French story by Mr. Perrault), her intent to attend is to help inform the prince of what is really happening in his Kingdom. Stay tuned for more tidbits and info on Cinderella! ~Rachel
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