by Rodger Sorenson
 

Ted Chapin is a producer, performer, and former president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization. In his note introducing this production to audiences in New York, and to future creative teams, he wrote:

"When Robyn Goodman led the charge for what ended up as Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, she was focused on creating a Broadway­worthy, expanded, and fleshed-out version that would include more than all the well-known songs, and be acceptable to a savvy, modern audience. Magic would be present, of course, but Robyn wanted characters who would take charge of their own lives and destinies; she wasn't interested in, and didn't think today's audiences would be interested in, passive characters whose princes just drop in from the sky. Landing a prince would have to be earned. This production includes modern sensibilities, but with a whole lot of traditional theatrical magic."

Cinderella lives in a world of magic and make believe, fantasy and imagination, mystery and dancing and music. It thrives in a world of everyday heroes and heroines, and of transformations!

A beggar woman transforms into a Fairy Godmother. A rag-wearing, common stepdaughter transforms into a Princess. A pumpkin patch into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a fox into a footman, a racoon into a coachman, a prince into a king. Imagine that. Believe it all, and more!

Transformation is not the only superpowers performed in this story! What is Ella’s superpower? How does she meet and enchant the Prince? This is a story that empowers girls of all ages, especially other “Cinderellas,” to become more than they think they can. How does she do that?

Many characters have superpowers in this story. What is Ella’s superpower? Prince Topher’s? Marie’s? Gabrielle’s? Jean-Michel’s? Lord Pinkleton’s? Could even Madame and Charlotte have superpowers? It’s possible. Anything is possible! What is your superpower?

In the world of Cinderella, music, lighting, sets, costumes, props, and choreography collaborate to create an atmosphere of magic that blends the ordinary with the extraordinary. This fusion blurs the boundaries between time and timelessness, fantasy and reality, kings and commoners, generating seemingly absurd spaces that are enchanting and inviting.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we all could be like Cinderella? If we all had the superpower of being able to talk with animals, to see crazy Marie as “a sweet and delicate” old woman who is also a “little nuts,” to love and see the good in everyone, to see Topher as more than just a spoiled Prince, but rather as someone who can lead a country and be a king? And although Ella is a pauper, Topher sees her as a person who could marry a prince and become a Queen. It’s a magical world in which extraordinary events are accepted as natural occurrences.

Mark Brokaw directed the original version of this musical for Broadway in 2013. He expressed his passion about the production with the following words.

"I think that Cinderella takes you on one of the most fulfilling emotional journeys that I’ve ever experienced in the musical theater. That’s because it really is about the triumph of the underdog. I think that everyone has felt like an outsider, has felt like they don’t fit in, has felt like no one wants to talk to them at the party – and I think that what this story proves is that with perseverance and with charity, kindness, and generosity, you can overcome all of those things, not overnight, but you can overcome them. And you can triumph."

Cinderella is empowering for everyone: girls, boys, audiences of all genders and ages who are confronting challenges in their lives. Listen for these words in the final song of the show:

"For the world is full of zanies and fools
Who don’t believe in sensible rules
And won’t believe what sensible people say,
And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes
Keep building up impossible hopes,
Impossible things are happ’ning every day!"

Welcome to Cinderella!

May you enjoy experiencing the impossible, as much as we enjoyed creating it.

By Mark Fossen
 

Cinderellas Through the World

Before the classic tale told by Charles Perrault in 1697 …

Before Cinderella first appears onstage at London's Drury Lane Theatre in 1804 …

Before the Brothers Grimm in 1812 …

Before Walt Disney in 1950 …

Before Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1957 …

… there is this story that the Greek historian Strabo was told in the early 1st Century:

They tell the fabulous story that, when [Rhodopis] was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the king was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, became the wife of the king.

Strabo, Geography, Book XVII.33, circa 23 CE

There is no evil stepmother, no fairy godmother, and no ball … but it is still recognizably Cinderella: a royal finds a slipper and searches for its owner throughout the kingdom so that he may marry her. An 1893 survey by folklorist Marian Roalfe Cox identified 345 variations of the Cinderella story in world folklore, and studies since suggest there may be more than 1000. Here are some of the folktales and myths that echo Cinderella’s story of perseverance and kindness ultimately rewarded:
 

Considered one of the earliest versions of Cinderella and predating the versions we know best by over 800 years, a Chinese folktale from the Tang Dynasty tells the story of Ye Xian, a kind-hearted girl who is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsister after the death of her father. Ye Xian befriends a magical fish which has been sent by her mother, but her stepmother cruelly kills it. Guided by a spirit, Ye Xian retrieves the fish’s bones, which grant her wishes. With their help, she attends a local festival dressed in fine garments and golden slippers, capturing the attention of a king. When she flees, leaving behind a slipper, the king searches for its owner. Once he finds Ye Xian, her goodness is rewarded as she becomes queen, and her stepmother faces divine punishment.
 

"La Gatta Cenerentola" or "The Cat Cinderella" by Giambattista Basile tells the tale of Zezolla, a prince’s daughter, mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters after her father's remarriage and sent to work in the kitchen as a scullery maid.

Zezolla's fortunes change when she receives magical assistance from a fairy-like creature which transforms her and enables her to attend a royal ball. Disguised in beautiful attire, Zezolla captures the King's heart and he has her followed on each of the three nights of the ball. It is only when she loses a shoe that he is able to find her by calling all the single women of the country to his castle, and as the stepsisters try to hide her, the shoe flies out of his hand to Zezolla "as the iron flies to the magnet". He immediately crowns her Queen, and her stepsisters sulk away in shame.
 

Kongjwi, a gentle and hardworking girl, endures cruelty at the hands of her stepmother and stepsister, Patjwi. While Patjwi mocks her and forces her to complete impossible tasks, divine helpers intervene—an ox plows a field, sparrows gather beans, and a goblin finishes her weaving. With their aid, Kongjwi attends a festival, where she captivates a young nobleman but loses her slipper in her haste to leave. The nobleman searches for her, and when the slipper fits, Kongjwi’s goodness is rewarded with love and a better life. Unlike the Cinderella we know, the story continues as the stepsister Patjwi kills Kongjwi, disguises herself, and takes her place. Kongjwi's ghost reveals the truth and is magically brought back to life, while Patjwi is punished for her crime.
 

Chinye is a young girl who lives with her cruel stepmother and stepsister. Tasked with fetching water every night, Chinye endures their harsh treatment without complaint. One evening, while drawing water from the river, Chinye encounters an old woman who gives her a magical gourd. The old woman instructs her to break the gourd only when she is in a safe place.

When she returns home, Chinye follows the woman's instructions and secretly breaks the gourd. To her amazement, it reveals a trove of treasures—gold, jewels, and beautiful clothes. Chinye's stepmother and stepsister, upon discovering her newfound wealth, demand their own magic gourd. However, their greed leads them to break the gourd in haste, unleashing a swarm of harmful creatures.
 

In the tale of "Katie Woodencloak," a king marries a widowed queen, leaving his daughter under the cruel care of her stepmother. The stepmother starves the princess, but a magical dun bull helps her by providing her with a cloth that produces food. When the stepmother plots to kill the bull, the princess and the bull flee. They adventure in copper, silver, and golden forests, collecting magical items each time. 

Eventually, the bull instructs the princess to disguise herself as "Katie Woodencloak" and seek work at a castle. Despite the prince's initial disdain, Katie attends church in magnificent copper, silver, and golden dresses, capturing the prince's heart. She drops an item each day and when he gets her golden shoe, he has every woman in the kingdom try it on. It fits Katie’s stepsister, but a bird reveals that the stepsister had cut her foot to fit. The prince tries the shoe on Katie, finds it fits, and marries her.
 

Once upon a time, an Ojibwe man lived by Lake Superior with his three daughters. The two older girls were lazy and cruel, tormenting their youngest sister, Sootface. They made her do all the dirty work and ridiculed her endlessly.

A mighty invisible warrior across the lake declared he would marry any woman who could see him and accurately describe his bow and bowstrings. The older sisters failed the test, but Sootface, with the help of a birch tree and her own perseverance, saw the warrior's rainbow bow and Milky Way bowstrings.

Impressed, the warrior's sister bathed Sootface, revealing her true beauty. The warrior named her Dawn Light, and they married under a giant rainbow. Her cruel sisters were left to do all the work and watched as Dawn Light found happiness and love.
 

Look for these at your local library or bookstore!

• The Egyptian Cinderella
  by Shirley Climo and Ruth Heller

• Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China
  by Ai-Ling Louie and Ed Young

• The Korean Cinderella
  by Shirley Climo and Ruth Heller

• Chinye: A West African Folk Tale
  by Obi Onyefulu and Eve Safarewicz

• Sootface: An Ojibwas Cinderella Story
  by Robert D. San Souci and Daniel San Souc