As a former shoe junkie, I certainly loved the story of Cinderella, the glass slipper and her fairy godmother with her magical wand. Who wouldn’t want an entire fabulous, sparkly outfit from head to toe constructed from thin air and for free? Oh wait, movie stars get it for free.
Anyway, throw in a handsome, rich Prince and life is good.
As one of life’s greatest ironies, my youngest daughter’s favorite princess of all the Disney princessess was Cinderella (the gilded shoe doesn’t fall far from the decorative box)…so thanks to Ms. Laurel and Mr. Bernie, we were their sixth row guests of a transformative two hours and twenty-five minutes from reality at the Civic Theatre. Sans the Bibbi-dee, bobbi-dee boo.
Yeah, yeah, I know that feminists would like to reconstruct all fairy tales to have empowered, self-reliant and practical feminine characters who wield pension plans and mergers in the boardroom instead of stilletos and gossamer tulle—and that in reality, a handsome Prince doesn’t show up and rescue one from poverty and abuse but that Cinderella would instead be the founder of a ‘battered women’s’ shelter.
However, the Prince was clueless about the poverty and disadvantaged in his kingdom. (Today, the disadvantaged are the homeless who live under our freeway overpasses. In fairy tales, they are the peasants who live in hovels). It took Cinderella to bring that to his attention. Really? Then he must be a good-looking, tall bimbo.
At least, that is how Rodgers and Hammerstein saw it.
And may I remind you, princesses can only become a queen if they marry a Prince who becomes King or they inherit the throne from a monarch parent. Hear ye, hear ye Cinderella: Sheryl Sandberg has a message, ”LEAN IN”.
The real morale of the story is that Cinderella’s virtues are:
- Forgiveness
- Kindness
- Charity
The tenets of Christianity and a cheerful attitude saved Cinderella’s harsh imprisonment from defeating her. And the fact this is a fairy tale. The good thing is— the Prince saw beyond her fabulous, sparkly outfit (I assume Cinderella was A.D.) and was attracted to her goodness. #whatsinsidethatcounts.
So maybe, he wasn’t such a bimbo. Anyway, I would have had a hard time forgiving that awful gold-digging beast of a Stepmother.
The comic relief in the play came from not the singing birds and mice, but from the plus size stepsister with the mouth from the south, Charlotte (played to the hilt by Aymee Garcia). She got all the laughs with her self absorbed, larger than life personality (no pun intended).
And the real magic was how Wardrobe Supervisor, Donna Landis Peck made Cinderella’s dresses transform magically right on her body. It was a genuine and audible, “OOOH, AAAH” from the audience (self included) when Cinderella was outfitted by Marie, the Fairy Godmother (Kecia Lewis is an amazing singer and stage presence in lavendar taffeta).
Thanks to fairy tales, we left the theatre smiling and feeling happy because all was right in our kingdom. (Psst, the gentleman next to me had a tear running down his face when the Prince rescued Cinderella! It was that good. Either that or he couldn’t wait for it to be over.)
By the way, the starlit glass slipper was designed by Stuart Weitzman. Sigh. Where is my fairy godmother?
Blessings,
j
PLAYBILL, RODGERS + HAMMERSTIEN’S CINDERELLA, STUART WEITZMAN