In their own little corner of their own little stage— they can be whatever they want to be! That’s right, folks, Silhouette Stages is being innovative, bringing you the retooled, reimagined, “new!” revival version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Directed by TJ Lukacsina, with Musical Direction by Paige Rammelkamp, and Choreography by Rikki Lacewell, this fairytale classic has been spun around to give the titular character some more agency over her narrative whilst juxtaposing the troubles of what feels like ‘revolutionary France’ and the need for an electorate over appointed-royalism into the tale. With most of the song you know and love from the original Rogers & Hammerstein, and a questionable new one or two to stoke that political soapbox fire, this is a new era musical theatre classics, which Silhouette Stages is performing admirably.
Sammy Jungwirth’s sweeping set is the stuff of fairytales and storybooks. With rolling scenic pieces that transform the stage from simple forest to the exterior and interior Cinderella’s home, and the stone bridge that doubles up as Prince Topher’s castle interior, the scenery becomes an integral part of this magical story as it unfolds. And Jungwirth outdoes himself with the stunning golden carriage once all the magic happens on the way to the ball. The run crew (spearheaded by Stage Manager Laura Fisher and aptly costumed in villager-style outfits) seamlessly and succinctly pushes and pulls these larger-than-life set pieces on and off in a timely fashion. Properties Master and Scenic Painter/Set Dresser Jessie Krupkin works magic in her own right, particularly with the woodland backdrop and some of the more hilarious props— Prince Topher’s hobby-horse comes immediately to mind. Kurpkin’s fanciful ball invitations are perhaps the most striking pieces among the props.
The trouble with grandiose and whimsical set pieces is not in their extraordinary design but rather with the way Director TJ Lukacsina and Choreographer Rikki Lacewell block and choreograph around these pieces. Because the set pieces take up large sections of the stage and because the stage itself is not a limitless TARDIS when it comes to spacing, there are often a great many scenes that look overcrowded. (It reads like there are too many people in the ensemble.) This is most notable whenever choreography is trying to happen with more than just a few individuals. The dancing scenes at the ball as well as the royal battalion guard marching through the forest early on, appears squashed and cramped (especially so with the marching pinwheel configuration of guards in the forest) and with the dancing ball scenes some of the moves become disjointed because of the lack of space/overcrowding of people on the stage. This is a shame in these instances as Lacewell’s choreography is elegant, fluidly matching the music in an a nod of homage— at times— to a ballet style of dancing.
Costumer Deana Cruz-Conner is truly a fairy godmother (except for when it comes to those false white spats on the various and sundry male-presenting-character shoes…you’ve got flawlessly impressive whimsical costumes and then the spats look like grade-school felt covers) when it comes to outfitting the cast. While the two insanely striking costume-magic-moments had hiccups the night I was in attendance, the effect was generally received and astonishing to marvel it. (In this version of Cinderella she gets two princess-dress transformations.) Cruz-Conner’s ability to thoughtfully layer a spin-pull costume— and not just one but two— in a way that looks like a believable exterior that isn’t actually hiding this special effect is impressive. But it’s not just the ‘magic-costumes’ that make Cruz-Conner’s work striking to behold. She costumes an entire ballroom full of elegant and outlandish gowns, most befitting for a royal ball being held by his royal highness— Christopher-too-many-names-Herman— (Herman? Herman!).
The outfits featured on the Stepsisters alone are outrageous, particularly the hideodeous first dress on Charlotte and then her ‘Evil-Queen-Color-Scheme’ affair worn for the latter half of the performance. Cruz-Conner might even be trying to sneak in some Easter eggs in her sartorial selections— this may not be Disney’s Cinderella, but that second gown Cinderella wears to the banquet is right on par with Belle’s Beauty & The Beast iconic yellow dress and the wedding gown at the end looks extremely similar to Ariel’s movie-wedding gown. The whole affair of sensational sartorial selections are topped off, quite literally, by the masterful Wig Worker Tommy Malek, who provides curls, kinks, bouffant-styles, and a whole host of other chimerical locks— including the flowing villainous blonde set on Sebastian— which gives each of the characters just one more jolt of pep for this production.
Finishing off the aesthetic awestriking design features for this performance is Lighting Designer Donald Chiarella and Projections Designers Richard & Amy-Atha-Nicolls. The only memorable projection (at least that I can recall) is the very striking clock hands and face that appear on the rounded outcropping of the back of the scenic frame. But this is such a integral piece of the Cinderella story— the magic ends at midnight (even if the shoe almost doesn’t feature at all in this version)— that you notice, pay attention to, and love this unique projection. Chiarella uses varied selections of blues and cooler white lighting to achieve those moments of romance during the ball scene, and the darkness that gets utilized to quickly pass time at the first ball from ‘arrival’ to midnight, once the dance/music break has passed is quite striking as well. There’s a plethora of other colors that Chiarella features throughout the performance— like the sickly vile green-wash that gives the Evil Enchantress (Pamela Northrup) a chance to look nefarious before being quickly thwarted by the valiant Prince Topher. Chiarella understands the balance of lighting a fairytale-style show, using specials only when necessary and not overpowering the natural flow of the show’s musical numbers with extra lighting effects.
Despite the canned music (it often cannot be helped as Slayton House theatre is just not equipped with an appropriate space for a live orchestra pit and often times having one out in the open so completely destroys the on-stage sound balance that it’s more efficient to use the recorded tracks) Musical Director Paige Rammelkamp achieves glorious sounds out of her ensemble. They blend fully, their harmonies are strong, and their precision when executing the complexities of the Rogers & Hammerstein score (the music, despite changes in the narrative, has stayed the same— ‘new librettist’ Douglas Carter Beane has not de-complicated any of Richard Rogers’ music.) Lending a superb voice to the Lord Pinkleton character, Otega Okurume is a noteworthy up and coming talent in this ‘captain of the guard’ style role. You can hear his superb vocal efforts in numbers like “Me, Who Am I?”, “Your Majesty”, and “The Prince Is Giving A Ball/Now Is The Time.”
New by way of this retooled libretto is the character of Sebastian (Christopher Kabara.) A sneaky and sinister ‘advisor’ to royalty, Kabara infuses this role with an impeccable balance of villainy to comedy. (In a show that’s meant to enchant both the young and young at heart, the secondary villain can’t be too scary!) The hand-gesture shenanigans that Kabara uses when describing ‘having a ball all in masks’ first with Prince Topher and then with Madame is one of the little scene-stealing moments of hilarity in the production. With vividly animated facial features, Kabara brings this questionable character to vivacious life and you get to hear his gloriously full-bodied voice during numbers like “The Prince Is Giving A Ball”; his enunciation of all of the Prince’s names is spot-on and effective.
Another newly fomented character for this Rogers & Hammerstein revamp is that of Jean-Michel (Johnny Dunkerly, whose namesake is borrowed from La Cage Aux Folles and whose plot-driving premise seems more at home in the ABC Café of Les Miserables, but as librettist Douglas Carter Beane has made one of the Stepsisters less-than-evil, there now needs to be a romantic foil for that character, hence Jean-Michel. Dunkerly has a glorious and sweet voice, which well serves his ‘battle cry of the proletariat’ also known as “Now Is The Time” (whose title is basically stolen from Newsies. Could this Beane person be any more unoriginal?) Dunkerly masters the adorably awkward and quirky character, making the audience fall in love with Jean-Michel, regardless of the fact that he’s a composite character from two other musicals supplanted as a side-story-romantic interest into this one. And when he finally gets his meet-cute with Gabrielle, the ‘not-so-bad’ stepsister, it is really adorable.
Tacking back around to the aforementioned stepsisters— they are no longer the evil, bullying, ne’er-do-wells from the original but rather one sweetly spineless and winsome girl who is secretly fond of and later friends with Cinderella and one dimly-unaware and somewhat unrefined existing solely for comedic relief sister who is clearly the disappointment child in her mother’s eyes. Played with epic energy by Marela Kay Minosa and Hannah Elliott— as the none-too-bright Charlotte and sweet Gabrielle respectively— the pair create hilarious side characters who don’t factor into the original Cinderella narrative the way you’d expect but are enjoyable all the same.
Minosa, as the peppy albeit absent-minded Charlotte is hilarious when she leads a chorus of ball-goers in “Stepsister’s Lament”, both her vocal aggression and facial expressions in this number leave the audience in stitches. There is something about her affected-character voice, which carries perfectly into this number (and also ending with that fist-up-Hamil-pose) You can hear her voice blending with serene beauty, however, which showcases her true vocal capabilities, during “When You’re Driving Through The Moonlight” and “A Lovely Night.” Plucky and punchy, Minosa brings depth, albeit in a hilariously shallow fashion, to the Charlotte character. As for Elliott playing the dewy-eyed ingenue (this is a fairytale musical and stereotypes are expected even if they aren’t adhered to by the titular character), she is wholesome and lovely and delightful. Her delicate songbird voice, pairing exceptionally well with Ella during “A Lovely Night Reprise” is simply divine. The friendship and kinship she offers Ella feels genuinely sweet; this is the kinder, gentler side of a stepsister incarnate. Both Minosa and Elliott bring unique characteristics and powerful vocal additions to the production as a whole.
As for Madame (Lauren Tobiason), the name now given to her evil Stepmother, well she’s still pretty text-book villainous, although now the character comes equipped with pithy and zippy one-liners to remind the audience that they’re still supposed to laugh at her misdeeds and evil chicanery. She has a solid voice that harmonizes well with others as the character is given no specific solo numbers of her own. Tobiason delivers this beautiful moment at the end of “A Lovely Night”, a quartet of her, Ella, and the Stepsisters, where she’s hanging over the back of Ella and shows her gracious affection. Only to realize two seconds later that she’s been affectionate with the wrong child and utterly flips out in revolted disgust. With a stoic delivery of her zapping one-liners, it is clear that Tobiason has a firm handle on comic timing and delivery. Her eyebrows are so cartoonish, you half-expect them to take flight from her face and become her little winged henchmen, though this isn’t a Disney-tale, so we’ll credit them with being extra animated.
Crazy old Marie (Amanda Jones) has more than some kooky nonsense up her sleeves. (Again a top-notch shout-out to Costumer Deana Cruz-Connor for that epic overlaid cloak, even if the transformation for witchy to wondrous was a bit clunky. And also- her stupendous waterfall of cascading curls, props to Tommy Malek on that wig work!) Jones is unsuspectingly zany right up until she transforms into the beautiful and articulate ‘Fairy Godmother’ of the piece in a striking gown of shimmering white. Her vocal superiority shimmers through “Fol-De-Rol” and of course, the iconic “Impossible!”, which a duet shared with Ella. “There’s Music In You” becomes this curiously beautiful moment— not quite a torch song or an 11’clock number, but an astonishing solo moment that Jones as Marie gets to deliver, using her stellar sound to send home the message of inner strength and optimism and beauty.
Delightfully oblivious though deeply feeling the pangs of lacking purpose, Prince Topher (Zac Brightbill) has a phenomenal voice, second only to the actress playing Ella. Giving huge sustains and vocal carries with hearty, well-toned notes all throughout, songs like “Me, Who Am I?” (again, Les Mis much?) become a sort of humble anthem that helps you empathize with the character’s plight. With a truly charming voice, when he slips gracefully into “Ten Minutes Ago”, you feel the romantic enchantment that is meant to naturally accompany this number. Brightbill envelops the duet “Loveliness of Evening” with such soaring sincerity that you can’t help but swoon. And when he’s traversing the newly written character arch of the Prince, there is a dynamism to his exploration that makes you invested in his story, rather than feeling as if he’s a plot mechanism to achieve a ‘happily ever after’ by the time the show concludes.
Do you love her because she’s beautiful— or is she beautiful because you love her? Still called Cinderella, though credited and referenced often as Ella, the title character simply glows in the hands of Bailey Wolf. Grounded, animated, invested, and real with all of her moments of interactions with others, Wolf’s Ella is the strong feminine hero that everyone wants from a fairytale princess but seldom ever gets because of the damsel in distress trope. When she takes on “Possible”, the flip-turn of “Impossible” you get an astonishing strong vocal sound, lyrical and lifted, with optimism and joy that just radiates right from the center of the fancy golden-pumpkin-carriage as she’s wheeled around the set. The vocal acrobatics Wolf succeeds at during “In My Own Little Corner” are simply marvelous and so impressive that you’re busy watching and listening to Ella and could easily miss the little fox and racoon puppet who come out to play. Wolf understands to newly written complex nature of the Ella character, giving her depth, perception, and keen understanding. And a little bit of comedy— her very last line in the show, underscored by chiming clock gongs, is delivered with such lighthearted teasing that you can’t help but smile. Wolf has a sensational voice, a commanding stage presence, and an overall delightful disposition that is well suited for this title-role.
It’s possible— for you to get tickets and enjoy a lovely evening. It’s possible— for this show to be successful and deliver a true meaning. It’s possible! Thanks to Silhouette Stages and their talented cast and production crew, that is. Don’t miss Cinderella at the tale end of this spring-summer season.
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Cinderella plays through June 19, 2022 with Silhouette Stages currently at Slayton House Theatre in the Village of Wilde Lake Columbia— 10400 Cross Fox Lane in Columbia, MD. For tickets please call the box office at (410) 216-4499 or purchase them in advance online.
