Overview
Brisbane theatre, musical and fairytale fans, one of your wishes is about to come true — and yes, it involves a fairy godmother. Finally coming to Australia in 2022 after the pandemic delayed its planned 2021 run, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical version of Cinderella has just announced a Brisbane season. Get ready for glass slippers and pumpkin carriages to take over QPAC, with the show dancing its way into the Lyric Theatre from Friday, August 5.
First premiering in New York in 2013, this version of the adored fairy tale features music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, a couple of the best-known names in musical theatre history. The pair actually wrote their songs for a 1957 television production, which starred a pre-Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music Julie Andrews. (If you've seen the 1997 TV movie with Brandy and Whitney Houston — which remade that original small-screen flick — then you've already seen a version based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's original efforts.)
Now, with the Broadway production making the jump Down Under, it'll debut locally at Melbourne's Regent Theatre from May, then head to Brisbane — before later moving on to Sydney in October. The tour is a collaboration between Opera Australia and Crossroads Live, after the two organisations teamed up on The King and I, another Rodgers and Hammerstein hit — but this time they're all about gleaming footwear and masked balls.
Carol Rosegg
Don't expect the exact same story you're used to, though — as you read as a kid, and saw in Disney's classic animated film and its live-action remake. Here, Cinderella is a contemporary figure, but living in a fairytale setting. While she's still transformed from a chambermaid into a princess, the tale has been given a firmly modern spin.
Shubshri Kandiah (Aladdin, Fangirls) will play Ella, Ainsley Melham (Merrily We Roll Along, Aladdin) has been cast Prince Topher and Silvie Paladino (Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables) will sparkle as Marie, the Fairy Godmother. Also set to feature in the Australian production: Tina Bursill (Doctor Doctor, Wentworth) as Madame, Ella's stepmother, as well as Todd McKenney (The Boy From Oz, Shrek) as Sebastian, the Lord Chancellor.
The cast will be working with a production penned by playwright Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, Sister Act) based on Hammerstein's work — which was, of course, adapted from the fairy tale about a young woman dreaming of a better life.
The Broadway production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won one, for Best Costume Design. In the US, Carly Rae Jepsen played Ella for a stint, while The Nanny's Fran Drescher also took on the role of Madame, Ella's stepmother, for a period.
If you're wondering how the musical works its magic, check out the trailer for the show below:
Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella will hit the stage at Brisbane's QPAC, in the Lyric Theatre, from Friday, August 5. For further details, and to join the waitlist for tickets — with presales from Monday, March 21, and general tickets on sale on Friday, March 25 — head to the musical's website.
Images: Carol Rosegg.