Cinderella The Musical

Venue :                  Muang Thai Ratchadalai Theatre
Show Date :           December 16th -21st 2008

Ticket :                  1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 Baht
Tickets available at :Thaiticketmajor counters / Thailand Post 52 branches Across Bangkok and Its Perimeter / Major Cineplex counters
Official website:    http://www.cinderellaonstage.com/

Show History

     Cinderella is a story with a rich history dating back to 9th Century China.  Since then, the timeless, magical tale of the rags to riches heroine who wins the love of a prince and escapes her evil stepmother has been adapted all over the world.  It is probably the best known fairy tale in the world, having traveled from China to India, Egypt and west.  In fact, more than 500 variations of Cinderella have been recorded in Europe alone.  The story was first told, and then written down, by collectors of folktales.  The modern version is a translation from the French of Charles Perrault that appeared in his influential collection of fairy tales,The Tales of Mother Goose. 

     Cinderella was the only musical written by Rodgers & Hammerstein for television.  Its live premier on CBS was prompted by the astounding success rival NBC had enjoyed previously with a television production of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin.  CBS felt that with the right star, in the right version, of the right fairy tale, a little of that NBC pixie dust might rub off on them.

     Unlike Peter Pan, which was a television version of a Broadway production, it was determined by CBS that their musical would be created specifically for the television medium.  In choosing their fairy tale, inspired casting may have helped in the decision: at the time, a radiant Julie Andrews was charming Broadway in an Edwardian Cinderella musical called My Fair Lady, and when CBS asked her to play Cinderella for them, she readily agreed.  With ideal casting like that, the network had very little trouble getting Rodgers & Hammerstein involved.  “What sold us immediately was the chance to work with Julie,” recalled Rodgers in his autobiography.  “It was right from the start.”

     Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II prepared their version of Cinderella in a scant eight month period.  The story remained true to Perrault’s original: “The traditional Cinderella has done very well,” Hammerstein remarked.  “Why would we trick her up?  We wanted to do a musical version of the story that everyone remembers from childhood.”  Nevertheless, the script was embroidered with a few sly and witty touches that were uniquely Hammerstein, and the score featured such jewels as “In My Own Little Corner,” “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?,” “Ten Minutes Ago,” “Impossible” and several of Rodgers’ most enchanting waltzes and marches.

     Cinderella went through an unusually long (for television) rehearsal period, followed by two complete run-throughs (dubbed “the New Haven and Boston tryouts” by the authors).  On Sunday night March 24, Rodgers and Hammerstein appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, playing selections from Cinderella and urging viewers to watch “the same channel, same time, same place” one week hence.

     And watch they did.  When Cinderella first aired live on TV, it was viewed by 107,000,000 people—the largest television audience to date, representing more than half the country with a then population of 170 million! 

     Cinderella made an easy transition to the stage and began appearing in theatres around the U.S.  With its stage success on track, CBS wanted to bring Cinderella back to television.  The premiere had been phenomenally successful, but in the days before videotape it was doomed to one night only.  Later, CBS re-staged Cinderella with Richard Rodgers serving as Executive Producer.  While Joseph Schrank was brought in to revise the teleplay, the score remained intact, with the addition of a solo for the Prince, “Loneliness of Evening” (a ballad originally written for, and cut from, South Pacific).

     The new television version of Cinderella featured a cast as remarkable as the original with Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon as the King and Queen and a young Broadway star-to-be, Lesley Ann Warren, playing Cinderella.  Taped for broadcast, this Cinderella aired on television several times, becoming increasingly successful.

     Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella still endures today.  The original version survives in a relatively crude but historically fascinating kinescope in the archives of the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City and Los Angeles; the remake with Leslie Ann Warren can be seen frequently on the Disney Channel and Hallmark home video.  Compact discs and audio cassette recordings of both performances are available on Sony Broadway.

     Stage Productions of Cinderella continue to thrive as well, including an acclaimed version presented by the New York City Opera.  In calendar year 1996, according to the R&H Theatre Library, more than 250 productions of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella were presented in the United States alone.

     Cinderella made television history again when 60 million viewers tuned to ABC-TV’s “The Wonderful World of Disney,” for the dazzling 21st Century remake.  Its all-star cast included Whitney Houston as The Fairy Godmother, singing and TV sensation Brandy in the title role, Bernadette Peters as the Wicked Stepmother, Whoopi Goldberg as The Queen, Victor Garber as The King, newcomer Paolo Montalban (plucked from the Broadway cast of The King And I) as The Prince, Jason Alexander as his Steward and with Veanne Cox and Natalie Desselle as the Wicked Stepsister

Musical Number

Act I
Overture (Instrumental)
Prologue: The Sweetest Sounds
The Prince is Giving a Ball
In My Own Little Corner
Your Majesties
Loneliness of Evening
Boy and Girls Like You and Me
In My Own Little Corner (Reprise)
Impossible

Act II
Gavotte (Instrumental)
The Cinderella Entrance (Instrumental)
Ten Minutes Ago
Stepsisters’ Lament
Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful
Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful (Reprise)
Impossible (Slow Reprise)
When You’re Driving Through the Moonlight
A Lovely Night
There’s Music in You
Finale, The Wedding

Show Synopsis

     One of the world’s most beloved and famous fairly tales becomes a hit Broadway musical! Watch Cinderella transform from rags to riches with the help of her fairy godmother in a classical stage spectacular.  You, too, will come to believe that the impossible is, indeed, possible!

     Treated like a slave by her Stepmother and stepsisters Portia and Joy, Cinderella seeks refuge in her own little corner of the house, where she daydreams of a better life. Meanwhile, the King and Queen prepare for a formal ball they are giving in order to find a wife for their son, the Prince. The Prince wonders when he will find his true love, and the King assures him that lasting love will come to him.

     On the night of the ball, Cinderella fantasizes about attending. Her Godmother teases her for harboring impossible dreams, but Cinderella is miraculously provided with a beautiful gown and a fancy carriage, proving to her Godmother that dreams can indeed come true.  Cinderella leaves for the ball in her new dress and carriage, but she is warned that the magic will only last until midnight.

     At the ball, the Prince invites a mysterious beauty to dance, unbeknownst to him and everyone at the ball that it is actually Cinderella.  Portia and Joy glare and jealously criticize the Prince's choice of women. Cinderella and the Prince marvel that they have fallen in love after knowing each other for only ten minutes. As midnight is about to strike, Cinderella flees, leaving a puzzled Prince and one of her glass slippers behind.

     The next day, Cinderella dreamily recalls her adventure at the ball. Portia and Joy, believing that their stepsister can only be imagining the ball, marvel at her accuracy. A Herald announces the arrival of the Prince, who, armed with the glass slipper, has begun to search far and wide for his mysterious love. Cinderella's suspicious Stepmother orders Cinderella out of the house so that she won't ruin Portia and Joy’s chances with the Prince. To the delight of Cinderella and her Godmother, magic once again provides assistance, and the Prince recognizes Cinderella. He places the glass slipper on her foot and, lo and behold, it fits. Cinderella and the Prince are joyously united.

Richard Rodgers’ and Oscar Hammerstein’s
Thoughts On Cinderella

OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II—from Cinderella on a Coaxial Cable SATURDAY REVIEW

     We want the kids who see it to recognize the story they know.  Children can be very critical on that score. But, of course, their parents will be watching, too, so we have tried to humanize the characters without altering the familiar plot structure.  As you may know, I'm not one for writing stories about poor little girls who suddenly win fame and happiness at the stroke of a magic wand. I think I helped explode the notion that success comes through luck in Me And Juliet in which the stage-struck innocent never makes the grade in the theatre.  So, in Cinderella I have de-emphasized the 'fairy' aspect of the godmother, and have simply presented her as a matter-of-fact woman with a sense of humor who incidentally has magical powers.  In her first scene with Cinderella, she even tries to talk the girl out of her wild idea of going to the ball.  But it's Cinderella's innocent faith in a miracle, which she expresses in the song “Impossible,” that finally wins the godmother over to granting her wish.


RICHARD RODGERS—from MUSICAL STAGES, Random House. Copyright by Richard Rodgers

     Though a few of its songs have become popular, our score for Cinderella is another example of what theatre music is really all about.  No matter what the medium, a score is more than a collection of individual songs.  It is, or should be, a cohesive entity whose words and music are believable expressions of the characters singing them. When the lonely, bullied heroine sings, “In My Own Little Corner,” it's not merely a song; it's a revelation of the girl herself.  When she finishes, we know something more about her than we had before—her sense of humor, her naive optimism, her imagination and her relationship to the rest of her family.  It's fair to say that this song is familiar to a vast number of people, but it has never made anyone's hit parade and never will; it is simply part of the score.  Like a symphony, concerto or opera, some portions have greater appeal than others, but it is the work as a whole that makes the overall impression.

BAE's CINDERELLA

     The Broadway Asia Entertainment (BAE) production of Cinderella will be the most lavish production produced by BAE yet.  Directed by Bobby Garcia, the director of BAE’s acclaimed production of The King And I, Cinderella will star Tony Award winning actress Lea Salonga, the actress who created the starring role in Miss Saigon both in London’s West End and on Broadway.  Salonga is famous not only for her Broadway appearances, but for creating the singing voices for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in Mulan for Disney’s films.

     The opulent designs will be created by a team led by renowned clothing designer Renato Balestra, the Italian clothing designer who has dressed some of the world’s most famous women, from Hollywood royalty Elizabeth Taylor and Lauren Bacall to Saudi Arabian princesses, and for leading celebrities of the international jet-set, from the Queen of Thailand to the empress of Iran, to the first ladies of Egypt and the Philippines.  Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Gallo’s designs have included The Drowsy Chaperone, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Blue Man Group and have also been honored by the Drama Desk, NAACP, Obie, American Theatre Wing, Outer Critics, Lortel, Eddy, Ovation, and Los Angeles Critics. His work is in the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.  Together Balestra and Gallo will work to create the magical world of Cinderella and her Prince Charming.

     Cinderella is one of the most famous productions in the history of musical entertainment.  When the live production aired on CBS-TV, it was seen by the largest audience in television history: 107 million people in the U.S. (60 percent of the country’s population at that time) and another 10 million internationally. It was truly an event, a golden moment in the Golden Age of Television.

     The BAE production of Cinderella will be adapted by Mark Waldrop, the award winning writer and director whose credits include Bette Midler’s Divine Miss Millennium Tour.

     Director Bobby Garcia will supervise an all-new version of Cinderella which is aimed at the adult audience as well as the family audience.  Rodgers and Hammerstein, arguably the most famous of Broadway composer/lyricist teams, have created a sophisticated world where magic can happen and for every young princess-to-be there is a Prince Charming waiting in the wings.  Garcia has directed Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and BAE’s production of The King And I.  His Cinderella will feature elaborate sets, costumes, and magical effects on the scale of these productions.  The Rodgers and Hammerstein library has allowed the creators of this new production to not only feature the famous song “Ten Minutes Ago,” but also to introduce other famous songs from the catalogue which capture the romance and enchantment that will be the cornerstones of this production.

CAST :

LEA SALONGA (Cinderella)

The Tony Award winning star of Miss Saigon, continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

     She recently began her first major U.S. city concert tour with performances in San Francisco, Atlantic City, Honolulu, Maui, Chicago, Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, grossing over one million dollars in ticket sales. On November 7, 2006 she sold out Carnegie Hall in an all new show directed by Richard Jay-Alexander (Bette Midler's Kiss My Brass tour; Barbra Streisand Timeless Farewell tour).

     Salonga gained international stardom for her award winning lead role as Kim on Broadway in the 1991 production of Miss Saigon. She not only won a Tony Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical," but also an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award and the Laurence Olivier Award. Her vast array of theater credits also include Les Misérables as Eponine, the witch in Into The Woods, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, The Goodbye Girl, They're Playing Our Song, Grease, The Fantastics, Paper Moon, The Bad Seed, The Sound of Music and Annie.

     In Fall 2002, Salonga made another splash on Broadway, starring in the hit revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammersteins's Flower Drum Song with a re-imagined book by David Henry Hwang.

     In March 2007, Lea returned to Broadway to star as Fantine in the 2006 revival of Les Misérables.

     Salonga can be heard on screen as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's blockbuster smash Aladdin. In a recent article in Southwest Magazine entitled the "50 Greatest Movie Soundtracks," Aladdin was ranked #17 with specific note made of Miss Salonga's version of "A Whole New World." She is also the singing voice of Mulan in Mulan and Mulan 2.

     She can be heard on the original cast recordings of Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song (Broadway Revival), The King and I (with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), The Nutcracker, "Hey, Mr. Producer!" and the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert. Lea has recorded over a dozen solo CD's including "Lea Salonga," "Lea...In Love," "By Heart," "Songs from the Screen," "Songs From Home," "Lea...Live!", "Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert" and, most recently "Inspired" (available as an import or on Amazon.com).

PETER SAIDE (Prince).

     Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Peter was most recently seen as Tony in Saturday Night Fever, a principal vocalist in Masquerade, a new Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber review, and in a recent adaptation of Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Hey, Mr. Producer! His Australian credits include Into The Woods (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), Chicago (Billy Flynn), Chess (Anatoly) and various other musicals, operettas and cabarets. Peter has also been seen in Tokyo Disney Resort's Encore! and as a principal entertainer for P&O and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Peter is thrilled to be a part of Cinderella. Love to his family!