The classic tale of Cinderella is hitting the Roxy stage this week.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical brings the familiar story to life and tells the tale of a kind-hearted girl who desires to go to the ball but is mistreated by her step-mother and stepsisters.
Director Elaine Anderson says, “It’s more than just a story about a girl that goes to a ball, it’s about believing in yourself, staying kind even when life is unfair, and never giving up on your dreams.”
She adds the musical is slightly different than the popular Disney film.
“This is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s vision that was written in 1957 for a then 21-year-old Julie Andrews as a vehicle for her and it was written as the very first Broadway musical written for television. It was so popular it outshone Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show. Still to this day, it is one of the most watched televised stage musicals in history,” says Anderson.
Musical Director Brenda Dimoff says the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s music beautiful and challenging.
“Within this show, there is what we call underscore. It’s music that is underneath dialogue, which then leads into a song. It’s not like standalone song, acting, standalone song, there is music that just goes all the way through this whole show and it is an integral part of the development of the whole show. Our cast and singers are just absolutely beautiful. We have strong singers, we have some inexperienced ones who have come along and developed being alongside veterans that are here and the chorus work is wonderful, but the leads are tremendous,” says Dimoff.
Roxy Cinderella Director Elaine Anderson and Musical Director Brenda Dimoff (Photo by Nathan Shubert)
Anderson says there will be several familiar actors returning to the Roxy stage for the production as well as some new ones.
Emma McConachie-Anderson plays Cinderella and is joined by Julie Craven who plays the stepmother and Cameron Donsberger who plays the prince.
Anderson says this is a musical for all ages.
The play runs from Nov. 13 and 14 and 19 to the 21 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15 at 1 p.m., and Nov. 22 and 29 at 2 p.m.
More details about the production can be found on the Roxy website here.