Rodgers and Hammerstein had a history of Broadway hits behind them when they turned to the story of Cinderella, but they would only get one shot to get a musical adaptation right when they were asked to bring the glass slippers to television for a 1957 production.
With Julie Andrews cast in the lead, the program became a single-broadcast ratings smash. Its legacy would lead to the Great White Way, with Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella retaining the musical numbers from the teleplay while getting a reimagined book courtesy of Douglas Carter Beane.
The play, which won a Best Costume Design in a Musical Tony in 2013, segued seamlessly from Broadway to its touring version, which stops at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts this week. Featuring original soundtrack numbers such as “Ten Minutes Ago” and “In My Own Little Corner,” Cinderella adds a few more Rodgers and Hammerstein outtakes from other productions to expand the story for the stage. They also had Cinderella (Audrey Cardwell) not only win the heart of Prince Topher (Andy Huntington Jones) but enlighten him about how his subjects are being oppressed as well.
While Beane had the best source material from which to work, for inspiration he drew on Charles Perrault’s 1697 version that emphasized Cinderella’s kindness in a cynical age and introduced the pumpkin coach and slippers to the folk tale for the first time.
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. April 28-May 1, 2 & 7:30 p.m. May 2-3, $39-$139 plus tax and fee. 702.749.2000
