Monday, November 17, 2014

cinderella, then and now

The kid and I saw Cinderella this weekend.

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Waiting for the show to start

It was her second Broadway musical - we saw Shrek the Musical about six years ago on a Thanksgiving trip to NY. This show was lots of fun, a revival of a revival, with a few contemporary and feminist spins to the age-old fairy tale.

Paige Faure and Andy Jones

Kecia Lewis and Paige Faure, photos from Playbill, by Carol Rosegg

I didn't realize that Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was originally written for television, as a vehicle for Julie Andrews. I saw the 1965 version of the musical on TV when I was a kid in the '70s, with Lesley Ann Warren as Cinderella. As we watched the Broadway tour version the other day I was amazed at how many of the songs had stayed with me: "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible; It's Possible," "Stepsisters' Lament," and especially "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"

I'm not sure how much of an impression it made on the kid. She really liked it, especially Kecia Lewis as the Fairy Godmother, but she was a little frustrated that she couldn't see the actors' faces very clearly from where we were sitting. We were't in the nosebleed seats, but it was still a bit of a distance. I guess I may have had a more intimate experience, all those years ago, with the television close-ups and all. But there is something about live theater. The singing gives me goosebumps. You can't really beat that.

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