Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” will join the fairy tale bandwagon when it hits Broadway for the first time at the beginning of next year.
Previews for the show, starring Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (“Bonnie & Clyde,” and “South Pacific”) as Cinderella, will begin January 24, 2013 at the Broadway Theatre. Surprisingly, this will mark the Broadway debut of the princess character, as well as this particular musical, according to the Entertainment Weekly website.
Directed by Mark Brokaw (“The Lyons,” “Cry-Baby”), the musical is slated to make its official opening February 24, 2013 and will set out to prove that “glass slippers are so back.” The musical follows a new book by four-time Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane (“Xandadu,” “Sister Act”) and will feature all the classic elements like the famous glass slipper and horse-drawn pumpkin, but will also add a few surprising twists. Fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved tale will also recognize familiar tunes like “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible,” and “Ten Minutes Ago.”
This time around Osnes will lead the cast, alongside Santino Fontana (“Billy Elliot,” “The Importance of Being Earnest”) as the Prince, Tony Award winner Victoria Clark as the Fairy Godmother Marie, Tony winner Harriet Harris as Cinderella’s Stepmother, Ann Harada (“Avenue Q”) and Marla Mindelle (“Sister Act”) as stepsisters Charlotte and Gabrielle respectively. Peter Bartlett will play as Prince Topher’s mentor and Lord Chancellor Sebastian, and Greg Hildreth (“Peter and the Starcatcher”) as the rebel Jean-Michel.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of the classic tale has been retold three times for TV — once starring Julie Andrews in 1957, again with Lesley Ann Warren in 1965, and the most recent version starred singer Brandy as the title character in 1997. The closest the show ever came to Broadway was in 2001 during a national tour that played The Theatre at Madison Square Garden. The tour version starred Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (of HBO’s “The Sopranos” as Cinderella.
The first Broadway-produced “Cinderella,” produced by Tony-winner producer Robyn Goodman (“Avenue Q,” “In the Heights,” and 2008 revival of “West Side Story”) will feature choreography by Josh Rhodes, set design by Anna Louizos, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Kenneth Posner and sound design by Nevin Steinberg, according to Broadway.com.
Although this version of “Cinderella” differs slightly from the Disney version, the musical will likely draw the same crowds who have enjoyed widely popular Disney-produced Broadway shows like “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Luckily for producers of “Cinderella,” fairy tale stories have been making a comeback as seen in movies like “Snow White and The Huntsman” and “Mirror, Mirror” and TV shows like “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm.”
J. William Bruce, sales rep for Applause-Tickets.com told TicketNews® via email that it will likely prove tough for “Cinderella” to fill seats for eight shows each week as it is playing in one of the largest theaters on Broadway. Bruce also added, “January and of course February are very slow times which is why a lot of shows post their closing notices during that time;” however, with a smaller lineup of shows, more people might be inclined to take a chance on a Broadway newcomer, especially one that tells the story of such a classic love story.
