Blair Ross News

Adorable, utterly romantic, and thoroughly winsome, this stage adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA is, admittedly, a wonderful surprise---filled with dazzling stage ingenuity; a dreamy, sweeping classic score by two legendary titans of musical theater; a revised, 21st-Century-tinged new book by playwright Douglas Carter Beane; magical Tony Award-winning costumes from the great William Ivey Long that will have you wondering 'how'd they do that?' and, lastly, an ensemble cast of terrific actor-singers that will have you cheering its inevitable happy-ever-after. And, if you're anything like me, you too will be easily swept up by its visual and musical loveliness and its endearing, sweet love story.The Broadway musical's Equity National Tour---now in its last weeks---has finally winded itself back to So. Cal., this time for a two-week stay at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through May 1, 2016 (the tour then moves on from here to its final scheduled week-long stop at San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre through May 8).

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA, the 2013 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of South Pacific and The Sound of Music, will play Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a limited engagement running April 19 - May 1, 2016.

The national tour of CINDERELLA is in Central Pennsylvania. It's more spectacular than you heard, and beautiful to watch, but the political revisions don't fit.

Broadway sensation and the originator of the 'Marie/Fairy Godmother' role in Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA Victoria Clark visited the national tour of CINDERELLA in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on Thursday, January 7, 2016. Scroll down for photos! 

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella has arrived in Toronto and she will indeed be the belle of the ball this season amongst all the family friendly holiday shows. This touring production, derived from the 2013 Broadway version, is magical, funny, quirky, and full of heart.

A stellar cast of actor-singers, a first-rate orchestra, and solid technical elements are just some of the reasons why this national tour production - directed by Mark Brokaw - is a worthy one to attend during its brief stay at Washington DC's National Theatre.

On Tuesday night, RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA opened a week-long run at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Running through Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend the tour stop's opening night, as was fellow BWW Orlando editor Kimberly Moy. As we did when we discussed THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, first show of the 2014-2015 Orlando Broadway Series, we had a back-and-forth conversation about CINDERELLA. While I tend to look at things from a more historical and critical point of view, Kim is an admitted fan girl.

The 2015-2016 Orlando Broadway Series kicked off in royal style last night as the wonderful RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA set up shop at downtown's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. This reimagined take on the classic musical will be in town through Sunday, November 15th, and is a gloriously entertaining spectacle that has as many colorful costumes as it does characters. With a fantastic, first-rate cast, the enjoyable family-friendly musical combines the comfortingly nostalgic Rodgers and Hammerstein score with a brand-new, empowering book. R&H's CINDERELLA is an inspiring, must-see hit for theatre fans of all ages.

Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the 2013 Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of South Pacific and The Sound of Music, announces casting for its Washington-area debut at the National Theatre for a limited engagement from November 18 - 29, 2015.

There's the definite feeling of autumn in the air that makes you want to gut a pumpkin or at least have a pumpkin spice latte, chances are you are definitely going to need a sweater in the early morning hours, and it's past the perfect time for you to pick out a Halloween costume. Luckily, theater companies are well into their new seasons and there's plenty of shows to entertain you while you take time off from berating yourself for wearing that same tricked-out Star Wars costume you wore the past fwo-and-one-half years.

Sumptuously designed, beautifully staged and wonderfully sung, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella isn't the same show you may recall from childhood hours spent in front of a television or from scores of regional theater productions since, but with a new and refreshingly timely book by Douglas Carter Beane, along with the interpolation of four 'new' songs from the R+H canon, the elaborate new production that's fresh off its first-ever Broadway run seems the ideal interpretation for the 21st century.

It is fitting, perhaps, and definitely a case of perfect timing, for actress Blair Ross: Preparing to go onstage as “Madame” – aka The Wicked Stepmother – in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella with most of her Tennessee family on hand to share in the excitement from their vantage point in the audience. Currently in Memphis, the national touring company of the recent Broadway revival of Cinderella welcomes Ross to the cast as they look ahead to next week's eight-performance run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

We're back! After an extended absence due to The Last Five Years (we directed it to boffo notices from our critical colleagues), The 2015 First Night Honors (which played to SRO crowds at Chaffin's Barn in September) and a sense of overwhelming malaise and ennui (we are ever so dramatic at times), BWW Nashville's Critic's Choice is back on the interwebs, offering you our insights and advice on the shows that are coming up and what you should try to find time to see - or to avoid at all costs, depending on our perspective.

Producers of the Tony Award-winning musical Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman and Stephen Kocis, are pleased to announce casting for the second year of the First National Tour.

Back by popular demand, March's SIDE SHOW: ADDED ATTRACTIONS concert returned to 54 Below this week. Packing in two more performances, the Monday evening show celebrated the short lived Broadway run of the revival of Side Show, the March concert, and the upcoming release of Broadway Records' SIDE SHOW: ADDED ATTRACTIONS - Live at 54 Below.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Cast of Side Show: Added Attractions; The Theory of Relativity: A New Musical in concert by Neil Bartram & Brian Hill; 54 Celebrates Julie Wilson; Songs of Cy Coleman, Starring Randy Graff, Cady Huffman, & Lillias White; and Ciara Renee at 54 Below.

This May and June, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street.

This encore performance will launch the recording of the previous 54 Below shows - SIDE SHOW: ADDED ATTRACTIONS