ALW's Cinderella- Page 2

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 2:02pm

I’m still very excited for this. Have my tix for April and just praying it can still happen. Also, Carrie is one of the sweetest human beings you’d ever want to meet so I’m still thrilled for her to get this show.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 7:55am

The first full song has been released. I really love it. Also, Andrew Lloyd Webber's persistence and determination to bring theatre back as soon as possible brings tears to my eyes. 
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/First-Listen-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-Releases-First-Song-from-New-CINDERELLA-Sung-by-Carrie-Hope-Fletcher-20200913

Updated On: 9/13/20 at 07:55 AM

[castlestreet]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 8:33am

I love the song, and of course for any ALW fan that big piano interlude mid-song reminds me of his glory days. I’m very excited for this!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 9:18am

Oh that’s beautiful. I’m so excited to see this and yeah, Webber’s promise that the chandelier will rise again, also brought a tear to my eye.

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 11:08am

That song is gorgeous.  I hear a bit of "Pie Jesu" & I'm here for it.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 1:02pm

I just love watching composers play their material without sheet music. The song is so embedded in them, they can just pull it out whenever it's needed. I hear a bit of "Surrender" from Sunset in this, too. Not a bad thing. :)

[Lot666]

Posted: 9/15/20 at 1:19pm

Both pieces that he has released so far immediately took up residence in my brain. Love it.

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 9/18/20 at 7:59am

These two songs we've heard are pretty good melodically and lyrically. I think the most beautiful parts we've heard is the really beautiful repeated string of notes in "Far Too Late" when she sings, "...I would show you how I'm sorry, how I long to clean the slate" and all the other times she sings those notes. I just wish "Bad Cinderella" didn't have some phrases that sound so much like "In My Own Little Corner"!

Updated On: 9/18/20 at 07:59 AM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 9/18/20 at 8:34am

"Far Too Late" is absolutely stunning! "Bad Cinderella" has actually grown on me. I am assuming that ALW got permission from the RnH Estates to use the IMOLC melody.

I seriously need to plan a trip to see these shows! I'm so glad Carrie has her own show!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 12:07am

I've only just seen this video but I'm definitely way more interested in the show now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEfTfFfDOXI&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=AndrewLloydWebber%27sCinderella

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 12:53am

So excited! Only (hopefully) 8 weeks until I can see it!!!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 6:45am

That video has me so excited for this! Any word on a cast recording? I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was going to be out soon.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 6:53am

Cast recording will be released on June 25th. At least in the CD/LP versions.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 2:10pm

It's just exciting to have new music again! 

 

I hope it's a big lavish production! 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/3/21 at 9:09pm

I’m still not sold just because we already have a perfectly fine Cinderella musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein (in various incarnations) and because Lloyd Webber himself has already written an unconventional Cinderella story with Starlight Express. But I am excited to hear a new Andrew Lloyd Webber score regardless.

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 6/25/21 at 8:20pm

Thoughts are rolling out on Theatreboard after the first preview. Sounds like it has high potential. Concensus seems to be that Act I is pretty strong, Act II has some trouble as it departs from the usual Cinderella story beats and can't quite find it's footing.

Generally enthusiastic word on the score, though some said there were too many reprises with little to offer and there were some unnecessary songs and dance breaks.

Biggest issue seems to be that most supporting characters are underdeveloped and go nowhere. Someone even said Prince Charming (I think that's what they call him? At least on Theatreboard they do) could be scrapped.

First preview, so, of course, most said it ran long and had some pacing issues.

Aside from all that, it was apparently a lot of fun with witty dialogue and solid jokes. Supposedly even moving towards the end. Ballroom scene in Act II has the front few rows of seats revolve à la CATS and was a big highlight for many posters.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/25/21 at 9:18pm

Let's hope this version of Cinderella doesn't having an ending like "Promising Young Woman." 

Updated On: 6/25/21 at 09:18 PM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 6/25/21 at 11:25pm

I just saw that movie and was gagged.

Wait, the seats move??! I might have to fly to London! That’s so cool.

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/26/21 at 12:40pm

The seats moved in Rocky ... it still closed.

I think Theatreboard was more negative than Macavity makes it sound. But, it's only one preview.

[binau]

Posted: 6/26/21 at 2:06pm

Warning: spoilers etc.

 

Was able to see the second preview this afternoon - I must admit even though I am not the biggest ALW fan of course it is exciting to be seeing a new show from this iconic composer in London, and while I don’t think many of his shows work as a whole he always has a couple of great, often iconic songs amongst the muddle of Cats, Phantom, Evita, Sunset B etc. At the same time he is the only composer I know that could make Bernadette Peters (in Song and Dance) sound atonal and annoying. I also will preface if not obvious I am much more interested in and have much more respect for New York musical productions and associated artists than the West End - I always find a certain tackyness in ALW shows and find his lyricist collaborations often a little clumsy. I was particularly interested to see what would happen with his collaboration with David Z, who gave Bernadette and Martin S hilarious lyrics in The Goodbye Girl.

 

The show started with ALW himself introducing the show as a preview and thanking us for coming despite/acknowledging COVID trouble. People screamed in support and he said something along the lines of “you haven’t seen the show yet so just wait before you do that”, love a bit of self deprecating humour. He then proceeded to make a snipe at the Matt Hancock scandal asking people not to kiss in the corridors, but then paradoxically sat in the audience without a mask for a lot of Act 1, the essence of hypocrisy. It looked like by the time the act ended he had a mask on so perhaps he just forgot. And he had it on for Act 2.

 

The director also came out to give a brief note. Apparently the first preview was the first time they had got through the show - and they were hoping they’d get through today but wanted to warn it was a preview etc. Not sure what kind of drama they’ve had in rehearsals and tech to make them feel the need to manage expectations, but the performance was very smooth with no stoppages or gaffs.

 

Anyway, what I experienced for the next 2.5-3 hours was nothing like I was expecting and while I don’t think the show breaks new ground in musicals, it does manage to reinvent the story of Cinderella in new and interesting, quirky ways, is highly entertaining and does occasionally stumble through a memorable song or two that shows ALW has still ‘got it’.

 

I think the first person to thank is the book writer, director and designers who have created this weird and quirky world that is a bit like taking R&H Cinderella and then crossing it with Carrie and Spring Awakening. The tone of the show is right in my opinion - it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s kind of cult camp but still has enough sincerity and heart from the two lead characters that there is a story to be told and characters to feel for. I think my problem with so many ALW shows is they take themselves so seriously and when the execution is not good it comes across as tacky. However, if it’s a little camp from the beginning then it’s ok if things don’t always make sense, some characters are over the top etc.

 

Cinderella is a kind of goth/emo, overweight girl - the kind that would not look out of place lining up for the rush of RENT, Spring Awakening, next to normal etc. she is smart but not accepted socially or pretty. Her opening ‘Bad Cinderella’ sets up her character well, and in typical ALW style this is one of the melodies repeated to death throughout the show in the short overture and reprises that you can’t help but like it by the end or by god it’ll kill you.

 

Cinderella is perfectly inhabited by Carrie Hope Fletcher who can act well and sing very well - so well it sounds like you are listening to a studio recording. She defaces a local town monument with spray paint, which threatens the towns publicity and finances unless there is a Royal Wedding to fix - enter Prince. Trouble is the prince is not all he seems - he is a bit feminine, sensitive - the runt of the family who has stepped into the ‘real’ Prince’s shoes, his brother Prince Charming, who died. So none of the girls in town actually want him - they just want to marry him for the status. Except Cinderella of course, who is a long-time friend of his. The chemistry between the characters feels real, like they are childhood friends.

 

But of course they secretly love each other and so the narrative of the story is working out how they can get together by the end despite the prince being forced into a royal wedding with others. The prince, played by Ivano Turco, is also a highlight and his act one solo “Only You, Lonely You” has the kind of sweeping, gorgeous ALW melody that is in my opinion the best in the show (also repeated to death in various underscoring).

 

Things get really, really bizarre when the ‘fairy god mother’ enters towards the end of act one. I am not joking that the beginning of Cinderella’s transformation begins with strapping Cinderella to a Doctor’s chair, creepy people in surgical masks coming out with scalpels and syringes but then apparently it’s ‘too hard’ or something so they decide to just give her a costume and a some makeup for the ball like ‘normal’, lol. When she finally gets her dress the fair god mother says the crystals could cut her skin and cause her to bleed lolol, how bizarre.

 

Act two also had its absurd moments - The Prince is about to get married to a girl (not Cinderella of course but one of the shallow pretty samesy stepsisters), but then suddenly Prince Charming comes back from the dead ready to take over - making a joke that his brother is the size of his penis [it is interrupted before said] before it is then revealed he is actually gay and starts a rousing anthem about how you should marry the person you love.

 

I KNOW this sounds ridiculous and it IS ridiculous, but it’s also quirky and fun.

 

The show is surprisingly intimate and could even be more intimate, there is a large ensemble who are mostly wasted but necessary to make ‘the ball’ and ‘wedding’ seem substantial. Speaking of the ball, yes the whole front section spins around to make a theatre in the round with the ball in the centre. Kind of cool, but not really needed.

 

The set is kind of average mid-size musical, maybe a little cheap looking at parts but it’s ok because it’s kind of the aesthetic - and sometimes it feels a bit like a picture book. A lot of money was spent on the ravishing costumes though, which doesn’t disappoint.

 

The lyrics are serviceable and not embarrassing in my opinion, but nothing too clever or innovative. I actually wonder if part of the problem is that ALW’s modus operandi is to give the leads slow ballads all the time - this only exposes obvious rhymes especially when you can see them coming, whereas if they tried to vary a little bit and speed it up (can’t there be more emotions than just sad & reflective) it actually can make the lyrics seem more clever because 10 obvious rhymes in 30 seconds sounds much more interesting than 5 obvious rhymes in 30 seconds.

 

ALW is surprisingly the perfect person to be able to provide sweeping, orchestral melodies when needed (e.g. at the ball) but like a chameleon can also provide a bit of modernish twists and even a more traditional Broadway sounding act one duet between the queen and step mother called “I Know You” that suggests they might have a bit of history - in an ideal world I’d love Patti & Bernadette to play the roles together but it’d never happen. It also feels like they should do more with these characters & their backstory rather than waste as much time with filler ensemble numbers as they do. The fairy god mother is another thankless role who pops up again briefly in act 2 and that’s it. Overall, act 2 drags a bit and could use some cutting in my opinion.

 

The music is again serviceable, sometimes catchy, sometimes sweeping but not groundbreaking and I don’t think it’s one for the ages.

 

So yes while it has its flaws and I think people might criticise the whole thing is one big campy mess I can only say I am pleasantly surprised as it does feel a bit fresh. And it’s about time that ALW actually has a funny show that doesn’t take itself so god damn seriously. I hope it gets a chance to be shown in New York - I wonder who the audience will be because anyone that wants to take their 8 year old daughters are in for a shock.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/26/21 at 3:21pm

Binau - Thank you so much for the detailed review. This sounds like an odd and quirky show!

[VotePeron]

Posted: 6/26/21 at 3:51pm

Thank you, Binau! Glad to hear it's promising (get it).

I know that ALW tried to get Mockingbird to move so he could open this in the Shubert a couple years ago. I do hope it comes to Broadway with Carrie Hope Fletcher, I'm dying to see her perform live!

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 6/26/21 at 5:35pm

ggersten said: "The seats moved in Rocky ... it still closed.

I think Theatreboard was more negative than Macavity makes it sound. But, it's only one preview."

I saw Rocky and actually enjoyed lots of it, but the seats didn’t move like this. They manually moved audience members. This sounds far more magical!

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/27/21 at 3:13am

Looks like the cast album is now releasing on July 9th.

[binau]

Posted: 6/27/21 at 7:59am

If the show ever transfers to Broadway I can imagine Carrie Hope Fletcher being the only cast member that would potentially transfer with the show. That said, I think there might be room for a different interpretation with a slightly grittier texture of voice - Carrie (who I don't know other than this show) sings with a very clean, pure voice - it's almost too nice in my opinion. I bet ALW loves hearing his songs this way but getting a Betty Buckley-type voice (not sure if they exist anymore!) might take the show to another level and give the character extra dimensions/edge in her songs. I also think it's why to me at least the tone of the show was a little bit of a surprise ands not as evident by listening to the released tracks on the cast recording until you actually see the design of the show, Carrie's facial expressions etc. as it's not all coming through her voice. 

One of the frustrating things though in terms of potential of this show though is that as is typical in theatre today I would foresee it highly unlikely that make significant rewrites during previews - I mean the album is also recorded, right? 

Some pics below. Starting with the theatre:

 



 

This is what the set looks like when you enter the theatre



ALW making a guest appearance



 

Cool curtain call shot, notice Carrie bowing towards the right of the frame in her green tartan jacket & black hair (perhaps predictable but nice that the prince wants Cinderella to be the girl he knows, not the transformed girl at the ball)

 



What the theatre looks like when you walk out, notice the proscenium decoration

 

Updated On: 6/27/21 at 07:59 AM