People that are new to my content might not know that I love the story of Cinderella. In fact, when I first started my youtube channel one of the first things I did was review every iteration of Cinderella on film including the Disney Channel version with Brandy and Whitney Houston from 1997. Here’s a playlist with all of my Cinderella content over the years:
That Brandy Cinderella is based on the Rodgers & Hammerstein Cinderella and it was originally written for TV with Julie Andrews in 1957 and then with Lesley Ann Warren in 1965. It had a new book in the 2013 Broadway revival (sometimes called the Topher version,) and I adore any chance I have to see it on the stage. The latest staging of Cinderella is at Hopebox and big surprise: I loved it!
If you are new to Hopebox they have a wonderful mission where each production has a Wall of Hope Recipient who is fighting cancer and the company fundraises for this recipient throughout the production. If you ever get a chance to see closing night at Hopebox it is a wonderful experience where the recipient if possible is there and they have a ceremony of sorts. It’s a lovely community moment.
One of the challenges at Hopebox is their stage is so small- almost feeling like a black box at times. This can make shows like Cinderella difficult that have elements of magic or whimsy to pull off. Director Marinda Maxfield and set designer Ashley Collins-Dowse have overcome these challenges with a hand-painted set that helps the audience feel like they are stepping into an animated film. It looked like they might have been inspired by the great Mary Blair who helped animated the Disney classic Cinderella from 1950. They were kind enough to let me take a picture in front of the carriage and I wasn’t the only one who wanted to do this! It’s adorable and the only shame is that it isn’t on stage for very long given how cute it is. Ashley actually told me that she was tired of seeing AI in community theater sets and wanted to do something real (Hopebox is usually pretty good about avoiding AI) and she really delivered. I love the panels that could be easily moved back and forth to create the different settings- all hand painted in the cartoony style. What a wonderful, magical set! The costumes by Shelbi Rynor were also whimsical and bundled up in a way that made the quick transitions from work clothes to ballgowns in a small space possible.
Of course the cast in Cinderella has to have chemistry and deliver the fairytale with charm and grace and that’s what they do here. Jennica Johnson is everything you could want in a Cinderella- warm, kind, comforting. John Derington is her Prince Topher, and he needs to be! Emma Rosenlund is a hoot as Gabrielle, the nerdy stepsister in love with activist Jean-Michel played by David Loveland. Alexa Thomas probably gets my favorite song of the musical with “Stepsister’s Lament” as stepsister Charlotte and she’s a lot of fun in her exasperated villainy. Hillary McChesney is our evil stepmother and she camps it up having a good time with the role (I also loved her hair and she was the Wig Team for the show!)
The only part of the production at Hopebox that surprised me is the ensemble seemed small for this kind of fairytale musical. Maybe part of it is I just saw Anything Goes there and adored it and that cast was massive with dancers filling up the stage but this often the ensemble consisted of 3 or 4 actors. I’m not sure if they just didn’t have enough interest in Cinderella or what happened but it was surprising. I also thought it was a little strange that they didn’t have the mantle set for “In My Own Little Corner.” That makes the most sense to me rather than the overall kingdom set but that’s just me.
Cinderella is obviously a great show to take the family to. Kids will love it, and it would make for a fun date night as well. The wonderful mission of Hopebox makes for a production worth supporting. I loved it! It is playing through October 30th and tickets can be purchased here.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was first written for television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews. The 1997 version starring Brandy had these same songs. In 2013 it came to Broadway with a new book by Douglas Carter Beane based on the French version of the fairytale Cendrillon. It starred Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana and was nominated for 9 Tony Awards.
If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. Right now I am crisis with my channel being removed so I could really use your support. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.
