BWW Reviews: Gettysburg Community Theatre Presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA

CINDERELLA is such a classic, it doesn't seem as long as it's been since the first Rodgers and Hammerstein broadcast was on television. Its first airing was in 1957, and then again in 1965 and in 1997. Somewhere along the line we got a Disney movie that just wasn't the same - although the singing, dressmaking mice and bluebirds were certainly a lot of fun. But those of us who have been humming "Ten Minutes Ago" and the rest of some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's zippiest numbers for years were thrilled to see an updated stage version of the made-for-TV musical appear again in 2013. (And no, Disney fans, although Cinderella is also a Disney princess, Disney's 1950 - it's that old? - animated movie, which also has some fine songs in it, is not related to the Rodgers and Hammerstein version except by name and story - it's all completely different music and songs.)

The only problem with shows being on Broadway is that they don't make it to where you actually live for quite some time, especially if you're within a few hundred miles of Broadway - too far and too expensive to really go, but too close to be allowed to put on a competing production in the minds of producers. Thus, it was with great surprise and no little joy among lovers of this show that Gettysburg Community Theatre announced it was putting on CINDERELLA - not Disney's Cinderella KIDS, but a children's version of the Broadway hit, starring a children's cast - this past month. It should have been pretty much, as the song from the show goes, "Impossible".

Nonetheless, a version adapted by Tim Briggs was on stage in Gettysburg, directed by Carrie Trax and Kylie Grim, and choreographed by Eric Mota, with some exceptionally nice costuming and staging. Cole Smith cut a fine figure as the Prince alongside Brenna Yingling's Cinderella; kudos to both for a very nice duet on "Ten Minutes Ago" and for some very lovely ballroom dance during the palace ball sequence. Noelle Totis showed some nice comic phrasing as the Queen, but Harrison Crowe just may have owned the show as the King, especially when he pulled his line that "king crab" looked like a political comment rather than a menu item.

Caryn Biesecker was a nicely practical Godmother, who also had a fine duet with Yingling on "Impossible," one of those great Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers you're still humming a week later (and not complaining about it). Alyssa Black, Linden Carbaugh, and Jordyn Keefauver appeared as the Stepmother and Stepsisters, the ones you always want to put "wicked" in front of when you mention them; Carbaugh and Keefauver gave a lovely, if certainly and necessarily wicked, interlude at the ball with the "Stepsisters' Lament".

Although considerably shorter than the full adult-cast version, all of the important things were here - pumpkins turning into carriages, mice turning into horses, Cinderella being the belle of the ball, and one glass slipper being the thing standing between the Prince and his true love. And though for this event the music was pre-recorded, rather than live, it would have been a shame to miss the full orchestral sound that traditionally accompanies these great songs.

Special props go to Renea Schroeder for some truly beautiful costuming; the Prince, King, and Queen all looked particularly regal, and Stepsister Portia's dress was truly lovely, even if her wickedness stopped any chances of marrying the Prince dead in her tracks. The Godmother was lovely in very appropriate gold, and Cinderella's transformation from ragged dress to ball gown was very neatly handled.

Gettysburg's next project is an adult cast production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, to be followed in May by the eagerly anticipated PETER PAN Jr which will be the theatre's first Penguin Project production featuring a cast of children with disabilities who are assisted by peer mentors. For more information on Gettysburg Community Theatre, its schedule, and the Penguin Project, visit www.gettysburgcommunitytheatre.org.

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