Hunter’s choreography seems to combine everything from ballroom dance to Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation moves. Gareth Owen’s sound design crisply captures the thundering vocals – that’s a compliment – of the large singing ensemble, and JoAnn M. Given a well-appointed staging – Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group produces along with No Guarantees Theatrical Productions – Bad Cinderella benefits greatly by its bigness at a time when much of Broadway – A Doll’s House and Parade, for starters – aims for elegant minimalism. You’ll figure out the plot details well before intermission: Cinderella will change her punky ways with a magical makeover – long blonde hair, a slinky, sparkling, girly white gown – before she learns her prince liked her just fine the way she was. Cinderella has only one joy in life – her longtime secret friendship with the highborn Prince Sebastian (Jordan Dobson, living up to the promise he demonstrated last fall with the lovely, show-stealing performance of “Shilo” in A Beautiful Noise). Of course she has reason to be moody, what with those Mean Girls stepsisters (Morgan Higgins and Sami Gayle) and a deliciously villainous stepmother (the always crowd-pleasing Carolee Carmello). Yes, compared to the bright, brilliantly hued finery of the other townfolk, Cinderella looks an outlier, but truth be told there are likely to be badder looking kids in every night’s audience. Cinderella isn’t so much bad as peevish, a vaguely punky teen who’s alternately pouty and crabby, sporting leather-esque tunics and studded purple tights that suggest the local Belleville mall has a Hot Topic. With a musical here-she-comes intro reminiscent of “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch,” the eagerly awaited arrival of this rumored hellion is a disappointment.
In fact, our first indication of this troublemaker is some graffiti reading “Beauty Sucks!” She must be some terror.
Bad Cinderella, we’re told by the singing, dancing ensemble in a big, fun opening number (“beauty is our duty!,” they sing), is a hated, feared and rebellious resident of the otherwise picture-perfect storyland village of Belleville. Less nuanced in the acting department, Genao is given little help by book writer Fennell in creating an interesting, or even particularly likable, protagonist. Genao is a terrific singer, a real, modern Broadway belter with a voice that has no trouble putting across the Lloyd Webber-Zippel power ballads. Nowhere is this more evident, or more unfortunate, than in the scenes spotlighting its title character. Probably not, but Bad Cinderella, as diverting as it can often be, at other times leaves lots of space for the mind to wander. Is that stepsister’s line a wink at camp classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Are Cinderella’s smears of under-eye sparkles a nod to glitter rock king Marc Bolan? Identifying an artwork’s influences and/or rip-offs can be addictive. What Bad Cinderella does have is an amusing enough premise, an appealing score of songs that please in the moment, a gorgeous set design, performers that give it their all, and just enough rousing, good-natured moments to hold onto hopes that Bad Cinderella will arrive somewhere transformative before Dorothy has to return to Kansas. And though it flirts with the eccentric camp appeal of Sunset Boulevard, there’s not a step-relative who can make us forget Norma Desmond. It doesn’t have the satisfying weirdness of Cats (or any single song that can approach the heights of “Memory”), or the romance of The Phantom of the Opera, or the ear candy score of Jesus Christ Superstar. Just enough, in fact, to place it somewhere in the middle of the Lloyd Webber catalogue. Edward Everett Horton).īad Cinderella has a little of each.
#ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER CINDERELLA MUSICAL PLUS#
When done well, the smashing of tales we loved (or maybe really didn’t) as children can be enlightening (it helps to have Sondheim on your team) or cool (definitely a plus to have Emma Stone playing your villainess) or, like those old Fractured Fairy Tale cartoons, just plain funny (R.I.P. What, you’ve seen this before, maybe when it was called Wicked? Into the Woods? Six? There is no shortage of variations on the idea, and another one’s coming to Broadway complete with Britney Spears songs and a bevy of famous damsels who get wised up by Betty Friedan. 'Just For Us' Broadway Review: Comic Alex Edelman Stands Up To Bigots - And Gets The Last Laugh
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