Rodgers & Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella’ @ Lyric Stage
—Wayne Lee Gay
To borrow the title from one of the show's best songs, it's "Impossible" not to love Lyric Stage's superbly realized production of the oft-overlooked Rodgers & Hammerstein gem Cinderella, playing a short run at the Majestic Theatre this weekend.
The old and enduring tale of the marginalized housemaid who wins the heart of the prince made cultural history in a new version (the first-ever “made for television” musical) from the Rodgers & Hammerstein team in 1957. The nationwide broadcast was viewed by an astounding 60 per cent of the American public, and made the young Julie Andrews a household name—giving her a big step up on her journey to superstardom.
Numerous live productions and two major television versions followed in the ensuing decades (a hit 1997 TV production starred young singer Brandy), and in 2012 a new version appeared on Broadway. In keeping with the mood of what we now look back on as a heyday of progressivism in America, the 2012 version preserved R&H’s tuneful score and story line, with playwright Douglas Carter Beane updating the plot with a sprinkling of social consciousness, a diverse cast, and more character development.
Lyric Stage's locally produced and locally cast production reveals the full potential of the 2012 version, with non-stop engagement that, at Thursday's opening-night performance, kept even this jaded and aging critic laughing, crying, and enjoying it all with the rest of an audience that regularly burst into cheers, laughter, and applause.
At the heart of the show, Rachel Nicole Poole brings a richly assertive voice and energetic presence to the title role. Opposite Poole, Sadat Hossain gives us an old-fashioned operetta-style prince, but, in this version, with an intentionally self-questioning personality that blossoms in the course of the action. (He briefly shifted to head-voice for a high note Thursday night, but it worked.)
While newer audience members won't think twice, those of us born and raised in the culturally segregated past will notice (and appreciate) not only the ethnic but body-shape diversity of the production. Poole isn’t the traditionally slim, fair-skinned Cinderella of the old-school (and fortunately discarded) Disney and Mattel style: Poole creates a naturally comfortable and appealing Cinderella for any audience member to fall in love with. (Oddly, biographies for both Hossain and Poole are missing from the program book, though an interview on KRLD earlier this week confirmed Hossain's name-evident Middle Eastern ancestry.)
And this is one show in which top-notch singing and acting—albeit in an exaggerated but winningly appropriate comic operetta fashion—carries across the entire cast. Longtime local theater stalwart BJ Cleveland chews up every word as the Prince's mildly villainous advisor Sebastian, literally getting a laugh out of every line he delivers. As the evil stepmother, Julia Rose Hartman provides a nice foil to Cinderella's goodness, while Tara Park as a mean stepsister temporarily steals the show with her antics in the "Step-sister's Lament." Sydney Cornelius deftly manages to be humble, majestic, and comical by turn as the Fairy Godmother, delivering the key moment in the anthem-like "There's Music in You”—borrowed for the 2012 version, by the way, from a largely forgotten early-1950s movie musical.
Another intriguing revision added in 2012 is in the reframing of one of the stepsisters as the confused, vulnerable, and ultimately good-hearted Gabrielle, here played with irresistible awkwardness by Elise Mendoza. Ryan Michael Friedman plays her love interest, the awkward and hilariously inept revolutionary Jean-Michel, who (in this happily-ever-after world) learns that positive change can happen.
Director-choreographer Penny Ayn Maas' concept lays out the action beautifully, fully justifying the 2012 revision as high entertainment with just the right touch of cultural awareness. Each of the ensemble numbers builds on the previous ones, beginning with the mild high-jinks of the Prince with his entourage of knights at the beginning, then on to the glittering romance of the ballroom and the wildly acrobatic pursuit of Cinderella by the Prince—all leading to the final thrills of the inevitable wedding scene. Theresa Furphy's sets and Tricia Guenther's costumes are straightforward and over-the-top in a good way, in tune with the convincing and delightful special effects.
Musicality has been at the heart of the mission of Lyric Stage in its thirty-year history; and the organization has been a brave upholder of standards in an era in which ugly digital sound has become the mainstay of both Broadway touring shows and local productions. For this production, a full acoustic orchestra, ably conducted by Bruce Greer, provides the color and subtlety that only a live full orchestra can bring, discreetly placed onstage behind a scrim. The Majestic Theatre, built as a vaudeville house and movie palace in 1921 and remodeled in 1983, provides perfect acoustic environment and visual frame for a grand Broadway show.
Neither the timeless fairy tale nor the Rodgers & Hammerstein adaptation (or the 2012 revision) aim at deep character development or earth-shattering ideas. But the simple parable of good triumphing over evil, and of a young person transforming through goodness, here becomes a memorable entertainment bound to captivate all ages. Attendees should be prepared to laugh a lot, and keep a hanky handy.
WHEN: August 24-27, 2023
WHERE: Majestic Theatre, downtown Dallas
WEB: lyricstage.org
