"Cindy. I'm a grant you some wishes but first, um....(looks around) you could let me hold five dollars? I'm a give it back to you in a...in a few minutes." Updated On: 12/8/11 at 04:38 PM
"beautywickedlover- You make the Godmother sound like Glinda. "You had it inside you all along, now just close your eyes..."
And honestly, that's TOTAL BS. Cinderella couldn't have gotten the Prince if she wasn't at the ball and she wouldn't have gotten to the ball without the Godmother."
My FINAL word on the subject is that in the 1997 version and stage adaptations based off of it, the Prince meets her in the market place while in disguise and they start to develop feelings for each other. They do not recognize each other at the ball, but they are happy to realize that the person they had fallen in love with at the ball was the person they met in the market place.
Also, in the stage adaptations before the Godmother grants Cinderella her wish, Cinderella says to her, "There are plenty of carriages going to the ball. I can catch one and I can fix mother's dress". But because Cinderella was ready to accept responsibility the Godmother gives her the coach, horses, gown, slippers, etc. Before Cinderella goes inside the castle the godmother says, "I got you to the ball, THE REST IS UP TO YOU."
Or Bernie. I do hope they keep 'Falling in Love With Love'"
Both would be great, but I'd love for Bernadette Peters to reprise the role. She did such a terrific job in the 1997 adaptation. Updated On: 12/8/11 at 04:56 PM
Beauty Wicked Lover--why do you prefer a Cinderella simply because it's not so dark? I mean I get that there are maybe more different versions (from so many cultures) of this fairy tale, maybe more than any other--and it can work dark or not, but that just seems weird reasoning to me.
I think the score is pretty great for what it is and find the Julie Andrews version has a lot of charm, but I just never have thought the score works for the stage and shoving in more R&H (and R&Hart scores like that odd last TV version), does nothing but stretch it out.
INTO THE WOODS was a flop? It ran for 2 years and has been revived on Broadway twice. Even if the original didn't pay back its full investment, I suspect it has recouped on amateur rights alone.
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"This is a bad idea. Is there really an audience for this thing? Unless they get some major star to do it, I think this will be a short run."
To Michael Bennett (who wrote the above) and others: I'm not arguing. A bankable star never hurts and I've been away from NY for far too long to have an opinion on what sells.
So this is just a question, not a counterargument: what about the masses of 12-year-old girls with $100 to spend on WICKED or LEGALLY BLONDE? Couldn't they be drawn to the theater for CINDERELLA?
WICKED and LEGALLY BLOND are new, contemporary musicals with pop scores that appeal to young girls. CINDERELLA is a stodgy 50 year old Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that even with a new book will feel as hip as as a Captain and Tennile tent revival.
Also, tickets for CINDERELLA won't likely be 100 dollars, they will likely be upwards of 130 dollars. A family of four could go on a whole Disney store shopping spree for that.
Unless there is some compelling reason that audiences feel like they can get something live that they can't from viewing this at home on DVD - the show isn't going to run.
Wicked and Legally Blonde--besides the scores--also write their heroines in very current teen drama/rom-com/whatever way. I have no doubt this Cinderella may try to do the same thing, but I can't see it working with the old score (with I'm sure added R&H songs).
I wasn't going to touch the Into the Woods was a flop thing--but on Broadway in commercial terms it was technically I guess, still it recouped on tour and I'm sure has made a lot of money through all the regional productions. But even there, you do have a modern take on the fairy tales that I think--if they happen to see it--would appeal to the average non-typical theatre going teen female mentioned above.
The other New York revival that Gaveston2 is talking about is the Tenth Anniversary benefit performance at the Broadway Theatre on November 9, 1997 with the original cast. Their facts are correct.
The book is gonna get an overhaul either way. It's too dated I think. The score though IMO is one of the best R&H scores. If they keep the market song from the 1997 version and the Step Mothers song then they will have a very strong score and with a book rewrite where they maybe make it more appealing to a younger, current crowd (which I know many on here scoff at but it's business) then they could have a hit on their hands. The only thing that will keep it from doing a healthy run is the TICKET PRICES. I'm sorry...but prices these days are insane and I think it's one of the reasons why some shows flop. just gonna throw this out there....Gavin Creel as Prince Christoper. And PLEASE...Make Bernie the step mom. She did that part so much justice in the film. The make it or break it will be the casting of both Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother.
"Life in theater is give and take...but you need to be ready to give more then you take..."
As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I'm not sure young girls aren't still quite well indoctrinated into the Cinderella myth. Oh, sure, the new book may need to spunk her up a bit: from LITTLE MERMAID and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST through TANGLED, Disny has been making its heroines less helpless. (I assume that's what the references above to Cinderella "rescuing" the prince are about.)
But my 8-year-old granddaughter still fantasizes about becoming a princess, even though she's hip enough to know that "sometimes a princess marries another princess" (her words).
are some of us forgetting the networks national tour? which was a success. this is very exciting but I do hope they go in the direction of the '97 remake. you know i'd actually like to see Lea Michelle play cinderella perhaps Lupone as the queen? Updated On: 12/8/11 at 06:02 PM
"Oh the under 10 set probably would love it regardless--I sorta thought we meant more the 15 year old, give or take, Legally Blonde fangirl type."
I see your point, Eric. 15-year-olds may think themselves too mature for CINDERELLA.
Thanks to everyone for the response to my question. I must admit I have been stunned by the tide of teens at WICKED and BLONDE. I can't imagine having that kind of money at that age.
Yes, we took our kids to Broadway shows when they were teens, but that was the early 80s and ticket prices were a fraction of what they are now. Updated On: 12/8/11 at 06:52 PM
I'm certainly not questioning the appeal of Cinderella as a story and I think if say Beyonce crafted a new take on the material with an R&B score and then starred it it, a musical inspires by Cinderella could certainly be a hit. But since it's a public domain story I really don't see any fiscal sense in reviving at these broadway prices the Rodgers and Hammerstein reteelling of this musical which is a long way away from tangled or even into the woods in terms of contemporary appeal.
Why wouldn't younger audiences be interested in this? I think it will be quite the contrary. It's R&H (for the older crowd) and it's Cinderella (for the younger crowd).
Michael, I'm not nor was I ever an 8-year-old girl and I couldn't care less who gets to go to the ball, but the score to R&H's CINDERELLA takes my breath away nonetheless.
I imagine the adapters will go for something "new" in the book, but Cinderella remains the foundation myth of most of our romantic comedies, so people are writing "new" works based on that story even as we speak. Why not a "new" work with that breathtaking R&H score?
(As a rule (cough, CLEAR DAY), I think modern musicals suffer when they attempt to repurpose old scores because music=character and the old songs never totally suit the new characters.
But if--big if--there is to be an exception, it may be R&H's CINDERELLA because the characters (and their songs) were pretty universal from the beginning.)
So it will be great for grandparents to take their under 8 year old kids to I guess No, of course manyyounger people would like it--but I think trying to get the mass appal of say Wicked with the teen group would be hard with that material.