Cinderella

Whoever plays Cinderella needs to look and act like a princess and fortunately Queensland Musical Theatre have found the perfect girl for the role. Sarah Copley is princess material personified; singing in a mature soprano, looking magical in a white ball-gown, and tripping daintily up the steps of the palace, she is the best thing about this very old-fashioned production.

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote Cinderella in 1957 for television, which starred Julie Andrews in the title role. Deian Ping’s production harkens back to that period with a large cast of adults and children (mostly female), cumbersome sets, and dance-routines without snap, which was only redeemed by the excellent choral singing of the chorus, especially “Ten Minutes Ago”.

It’s not top-drawer Rodgers and Hammerstein, with a thin book and lacking some character incisive songs. The musical was revived on Broadway in 2013 but unfortunately this is not that version, although it does add the cut-from-Oklahoma! “Boys and Girls Like You and Me” to the score, sung nicely by the Fiona Buchanan (Queen) and Christopher Crane (King).

The character of Cinderella has the bulk of the songs and Copley shines on all, in particular the lovely “In My Own Little Corner”. Thomas Chapman, playing opposite her as Prince Charming, lacked stature for the hero role but sang with passion despite his upper register being weak. Together they charmed with Hammerstein’s favourite conundrum-type lyric “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? (Or are you beautiful because I love you?), a follow-up to Carousel’s masterful (How I’d love you) “If I Loved You”.

Aleasha Liddy’s (Fairy Godmother) “Impossible” pleased, Ros Booth had fun as a harridan of a stepmother, while her two step-daughters, Eliza King (Portia) and Eloise Newman (Joy) found the humour in the amusing but brief “Stepsisters’ Lament”.

The white-mice dancers were audience favourites as were the young pumpkin dancers. The Cinderella story always pleases and despite being second-tier Rodgers and Hammerstein I expect there will be many who will be pleased with this version.

Peter Pinne