Cappies Review: Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella At Wakefield

By Langston Muller of Albert Einstein High School

Dreams come true at Wakefield High School's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

The show, which premiered on Broadway in 2013 after multiple screen adaptations of the titular duo's original script, follows more or less the same path as Charles Perrault's original story.

Young Ella works herself to the bone in service to a cruel stepmother and slightly less cruel stepsisters until she meets the prince. What comes after is a classic tale of kindness and magic.

Tamzin Folz acquitted herself well as Ella, bringing a gentle charm to the character that was enhanced by her marvelous voice. She was countered well by Carson Stadler as Prince Topher, who was able to use his character's boyish naïveté as a source of consistently entertaining comedy.

Strangely for an adaptation of a classic fairy tale, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is really funny. Every character had a plethora of bits throughout the show that were always a hearty source of laughs.

Two individuals in particular stood out in this regard: Rand McAvoy as Topher's advisor Sebastian and Katerina Larrick as evil stepsister Charlotte. McAvoy perfectly conveyed Sebastian's snobbery with dripping sarcasm and wit, while Larrick did the impossible and made Charlotte both hilariously bratty yet still sympathetically human.

Lauren Smith gave a beautifully operatic vocal performance as Marie, Cinderella's fairy godmother and kept that momentum going during dialogue with an infectious sense of whimsy.

Journey Sharp's work as royal messenger Lord Pinkleton was also especially impressive. Sharp had a quiet charisma about them that allowed for Pinkleton's short interludes to stand out as refreshingly charming changes of pace.

In the end, there was not a dull moment with the cast, who proved that with initiative, hard work, and some darn good acting, even the oldest stories can be made new again.

It wasn't merely the performers who aided with this. The set was the picture of fantastical wonder. Jack Ploetz and his construction crew made many downright inspired choices that gave the show an almost dreamlike atmosphere.

The most interesting of these was the moon present on the night of the kingdom's ball. It was no ordinary lunar object but doubled as a clock.

In the story, Cinderella's fairy godmother grants her a beautiful dress and other wondrous accessories for the ball that will disappear at the stroke of midnight. The merging of both time and place demonstrated in this set piece created a constant sense of anticipation during the entirety of the ball and wouldn't be amiss in a professional production.

The props as well were quite charming, particularly a pair of fox and raccoon puppets, operated by Savannah Daub and Syd Dewitt respectively. They made for compelling and admittedly adorable silent scene partners for Ella's solos.

Wakefield High School delivered a thoroughly charming telling of Cinderella where all facets of production added up to something that was, as cliché as it sounds, magical.