So you’ve got this girl, a scullery maid, who magically goes to a ball and dances with a prince, and he falls in love with her, but when the clock strikes midnight, she runs away, losing her glass slipper and ... you know the rest, right?
Well, hold your horses here.
This is not your Golden Book "Cinderella," or even the 1957 Rodgers and Hammerstein made-for-TV movie starring Julie Andrews.
The production that opened at the Marcus Center on Tuesday night is true to the magical story that we’ve all loved since we were little girls with tiaras (note: I was never a little girl with a tiara), but there are some distinctive wrinkles that change parts of this show and move it into the 21st century.
We all know the classic story, of course.
Cinderella, in this case, a kid from Wisconsin named Tatyana Lubov, lives with her wicked stepmother and her two equally wicked stepsisters, who are all going to a ball where the prince will pick a wife. Cinderella gets transformed by her fairy godmother, goes to the ball and then dances with and wins the heart of the prince.
She flees when the clock strikes midnight, afraid he will see her true self, and loses her slipper. The prince finds it, searches high and low and tries to fit the shoe on all eligible women in the kingdom. He comes up empty until the scullery maid slides her dainty foot into the shoe, becomes the wife of the prince and they all live happily ever after.
This version is progressively political with messages galore.
It takes a shot at politicians when Cinderella, having met the prince and been told he is a politician, replies, "He’s a world leader? But he appears to have a mind, heart and soul."
That meeting takes place in the first few minutes of the show and is the initial hint that this is not your mother’s "Cinderella."
The prince (Hayden Stanes) is a young man beset by a crisis of self-doubt ("Who am I? A far from perfect guy").
One stepsister is in love with a rabble-rousing protester, Jean-Michel (Chris Woods), who is trying to force a meeting with the prince so that grievances can be aired.
At the end of the play, the prince realizes the horrors that have been wreaked on his people and vows to hold an election "where everybody gets one vote." Welcome to democracy.
But the real striking message comes from Cinderella herself, who moves from the downtrodden maid into a young woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to use pursuit of the prince to cry for equality.
Upon their first meeting at the ball, rather than swooning, she tells the prince, "You need to open your eyes to what’s happening in your kingdom." The prince is taken aback, as well as just taken with this sprite.
She flees, he searches and decides to stage a banquet in the faint hope that she will come back so he can find his true love.
She does, but again the clock is about to strike midnight. She flees and, dashing our expectations, does not lose a shoe. But wait! She stops and takes off a glass slipper. Holding it in her hands, her gaze on her prince, she lays the shoe at his feet before dashing away.
And you know the rest.
This interesting book by Douglas Carter Beane, who was nominated for a Tony Award, is a big part of the fascination with this production that features a young cast gaining experience in a national tour. Some of the performances are uneven, but there are several standouts.
Leslie Jackson plays the fairy godmother and has a voice that could peel grapes. She has power for dynamics that drip character with every note.
Lubov, who was born in Cottage Grove and graduated from UW-Stevens Point, is darling as the heroine even though there are moments when her voice seems a bit thin, especially in upper ranges. But she offers promise that, as she matures, she will be able to stand on Broadway with any other musical theater actor.
Special mention has to go to the costumes, designed by William Ivey Long. They are a glorious vision and the assault of color from start to finish is just one of the many reasons why this show is so much fun.
And if you’ve got a young girl in your family, put her dress on, get her a tiara and take her to see how a girl gets to be a princess only if she wants to be and only if she sets her mind to do it.
"Cinderella" runs through Sunday, and information on showtimes and tickets is available here.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
