British Musicals: ‘Cinderella’ (2021)

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Original Story & Book by Emerald Fennell

 Lyrics by David Zippel

 

 

 

History

In 2019, Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to create his own version of the age-old story of Cinderella, pledging to make it a Cinderella for the 2020s. In order to do so, he decided to collaborate with Emerald Fennell, who had just written the second series of ‘Killing Eve’ for television, who wrote the new version of the story (and the book of the musical) in which Cinderella is far from the meek put-upon girl of the past, as her opening number has it, this is a ‘Bad Cinderella’. To pen the lyrics for this new musical, Lloyd Webber turned to David Zippel, whose credits include ‘City of Angels’, ‘The Goodbye Girl’, and again with Lloyd Webber ‘The Woman in White’  (he also co-wrote songs for Disney’s ‘Hercules’ and ‘Mulan’).

The musical was workshopped at Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Other Palace’ in London in May 2019 with Carrie Hope Fletcher in the title role, Tyrone Huntley as Prince Sebastian and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the Stepmother. The workshop cast also included Gary Wilmot, Ruthie Henshall, and Rebecca Trehearn.

Having been held up by the Covid-19 lockdown, ‘Cinderella’ began previews at 50% capacity on 25th June 2021 at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London's West End. The opening was originally scheduled for August 2020. After beginning previews the production was scheduled to open on 20th July, but on 18th July a cast member tested positive for Covid-19; performances were suspended, and the official opening was postponed again. Performances resumed with an official opening on 18 August.

Carrie Hope Fletcher remained in the titular role, with Victoria Hamilton-Barritt reprising the Stepmother, and Rebecca Trehearn moving up from one of the step-sisters to play the Queen. Ivano Turco took over as Prince Sebastian, with Georgina Onuorah (whom Lloyd Webber had given the ALW Foundation Scholarship a few years before, allowing her to attend Arts Educational drama school in London) appearing as Cinderella for some performances.

 

 

 

Story

The town of Belleville, France, full of beautiful inhabitants, prepares to be awarded "Most Attractive Town" for the 50th year in a row. The Queen's beloved, flawless, firstborn son, Prince Charming, has died in battle against a dragon; his younger brother, Prince Sebastian, is shy and gawky. The Queen builds a memorial statue in honour of Charming, but at the award ceremony, the statue is presented but has been vandalized, causing Belleville to lose the prize and thereby their lucrative tourist trade. The townspeople blame the local misfit, Cinderella, a rebellious, goth, loud-mouthed maid and childhood friend of Prince Sebastian, who lives with her stepmother and two step-sisters. To save the kingdom, Prince Sebastian must marry, but can he and (Bad) Cinderella reach their own happy endings, and how much will they need to change to do so ?

 

In A Nutshell

“I am me, Cinderella
I've a style all my own
And I will not change it for you”

 

Production

My seat was up in the Dress Circle, a little to one side, but still with an excellent view of the stage. (The stage at the Gillian Lynne is movable, so it can be either proscenium arch or ‘in the round’, with the former being the case for ‘Cinderella’). I was hooked from the first song, which cleverly speared the villager scenes that you get at the start of any panto Cinderella. Eventually, Cinders herself appeared, the alternate actress Georgina Onuorah, and for me ‘a star was born’. (Since going to see it, I have read about audience members berating Carrie Hope-Fletcher on Twitter as she was not on on the performance that they attended, but I was not disappointed having seen Ms. Hope-Fletcher in both ‘The Addams Family’ and ‘Heathers’, so welcoming a new actress). The songs and script were hilarious, and the simple staging worked brilliantly. Ivano Trurco, making his West End debut as Prince Sebastian was wonderful, but all focus was taken by the women (appropriately in a Emerald Fennell script), in particular Rebecca Trehearn as the Queen and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the Stepmother (the latter’s voice, described by her in the programme as a mix of Joanna Lumley and David Bowie, reminded me of Georgina Hale in ‘T-Bag’), whose duet was one of the highlights of Act One. The step-sisters played by Georgina Castle and Laura Baldwin (the latter being a favourite of mine from ‘Eugenius’ and ‘Waitress’) were slightly underused, but were vital to the plot.

Act Two began with the Ball, and a wonderful coup-de-theatre that I will not spoil here, but after this the second half dragged a little, seemingly striving to be as long as the first half with less plot. The deus-ex-machina towards the end was not a surprise to anyone who had looked at the cast list in their programme, but there was still a twist I hadn’t expected.   

Proof again that Lloyd Webber has the knack of collaborating with exactly the right people for the right project, with Fennell’s story and Zippel’s lyrics making for a hilarious yet thought-provoking night. Just don’t go expecting the vanilla Cinderella story.

Very highly recommended.

 

 

 Cinderella runs at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, London, and is currently booking until May 2022.

 

Favourite Song

It has to be ‘So Long’, whose melody I was humming as I left the theatre, as it regularly crops up again throughout the show. The Queen and Stepmother’s ‘I Know You’ running it a close second, with ‘Man’s Man’ in third place.  (All from Act 1).

 

Did I Buy The Cast Recording ?

Yes, I downloaded the ‘Highlights’ album as soon as I got home.

 

Links

Production website

Listen to the Music

THEATRE REVIEW: 'Bedknobs & Broomsticks: The Musical' (New Victoria Theatre Woking)

 

‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ has always been the poor sibling to the similar ‘Mary Poppins’ (also with music by the Sherman Brothers), but it has always been one of my favourite Disney films  (if only to see Angela Lansbury before she moved to Cabot Cove and everyone started dying around her). Therefore the announcement of a stage musical of ‘B&B’ touring the UK meant that I booked a ticket for Woking. Replacing Ms. Lansbury as the trainee witch, Eglantine Price, was to be Dianne Pilkington who I saw in ‘Young Frankenstein’ a few years ago (and who until the lockdown closed all theatres was Raquel in ‘Only Fools and Horses: The Musical’).

Having negotiated the ‘new normal’ of having to demonstrate my Covid vaccination status before being let into the auditorium, I took my seat and flicked through the programme. Soon, the lights went down and we were no sooner introduced to the Rawlins family during the Prologue, then the children’s parents were killed in the Blitz in a sequence that was slightly confusing and much darker than your average Disney musical. However, soon the orphaned children were in the museum in Pepperinge Eye having been evacuated, and following a few new songs (one of which I have later learnt was a Sherman Brothers song cut from the film) we were back to the recognisable narrative with Miss Price picking up the children (and her new broom).

Rightly for a story about magic, it was the stage illusions (by Jamie Harrison) that impressed most, with the flying bed being the highlight, even if it hovered rather than flew. There was also excellent use of puppets, particularly in the section on the Isle of Nopeepo  (However, don’t go expecting to see the football match). The new songs (by Neil Bartram) out-Shermaned the Sherman Brothers, and all the classics from the film were present, including ‘Portobello Road’, ‘The Age of Not Believing’, ‘The Beautiful Briny’, ‘Substitutiary Locomotion’  (‘Treguna, Mekoides, Trecorum, Satis, Dee’), the cut ‘A Step in the Right Direction’, and even my guilty pleasure ‘Eglantine’.

Charles Brunton’s Emelius Browne was as inept as his film counterpart, with the children being led by Conor O’Hara (a recent Mountview graduate) as Charlie, who somehow (similar to Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ pantomimes) managed to convince as a thirteen year old boy, even when acting opposite two actual children. However, it was Diane Pilkington’s central performance that held the whole thing together.

However, as we approached the ending, Brian Hill’s book took a rapid swerve, with the tone shifting back to the darkness with which the production opened, before the obligatory (if confusing) happy ending. The production was well received by both adults and children watching, and I would certainly recommend it if it comes to a theatre near you

 

 

‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks: The Musical’ is touring until May 2022.

 

Link to production website.