Cinderella Opening

Tonight is the opening of Cinderella Enchanted by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Theatre is a collaborative art form where many people work together to make something that is greater than the individual could do on their own. Director Bonnie Daniels has done a terrific job of bringing this updated classic to life along with very talented leads and a strong chorus. The show has some more modern costumes, props, and lines that may at first puzzle a few audience members comparing it to the Disney version of the show but the classic story comes through loud and strong.

The concept for the show was to give the costumes a little bit of fun modern touch to a few of the characters. Audience will see the Fairy Godmother who arrives in the pumpkin patch in a 1920's style costume to go along with her lines about having done the traditional fairy godmother thing with the wand but now prefers to standout from the crowd. At one moment the prince and his steward does a fist bump and in the following scene the prince is practicing his baseball pitching with a modern ball and glove. These are just a few of the changes that were made conceptually to go along with some of the more modern language in the play. We hope that audiences will enjoy this elements that keeps this story fresh after hundreds of years. Jack and Natalia Cody who own Creatures of Habit have created beautiful costumes based on Bonnies suggestions for the show.

Kelly Salchli has done an outstanding job with the scenic painting. As the scenic and lighting designer I've given Kelly a broad outline of what I wanted painted as wall textures on the scenery and she has taken those ideas and created a beautiful look. Kelly is a much better painter than I am and she has added lots of depth and design to my original ideas. Cast members have popped in during the past week and helped paint. Denise Bohle helped out yesterday and is back again today working on the fireplace and the large pumpkin carriage.

Part of the design was to go very minimal and theatrical with the furniture for the show. I gave Jim Keeney some illustrations of what I wanted built for furniture and he has done a wonderful job of creating the framework and ornamental wood pieces along with the upholstery.

Cindy Miller who is the musical director has worked tirelessly with the cast and musicians to create a very strong musical production. She has worked hard to bring out the voices and to work with a 6 piece orchestra to create a rich sound without over powering the actors. We have area choral microphones but not wireless individual microphones for the cast so balance is critical to being able to hear the performance. Bonnie and Cindy have worked very hard on diction and enunciation for the actors to be heard by the audience.

Two days ago I had a moment that I had been dreading would happen. Tony Vancil with Action Audio has been extremely gracious in loaning his large rear projection screen to the theatre over the past several years when ever we needed it. I knew that one day we would be depending on the screen and he would have it rented some place else. Tony stopped by Tuesday to tell me he needed his screen for next weekend. My heart stopped as we are very dependent on that screen for Cinderella. Tony sells equipment and was able to get me a great price on a new screen and get it here between opening and second week of the run. Sunday we will strike his screen and return it to him and Wednesday our new screen will come in and we will install it for the Thursday night show. That was an unanticipated $1,700 expense that we didn't see coming. We've done over a dozen shows with his screen and this was the first time he needed it during our run.

Today we are still doing lots of painting on the set. I'm still hanging several lights to try to fix "dark spots" that are created in the space between one light area on the stage and an adjacent area.

Tonight's opening should be outstanding and audiences will walk away with the beautiful love songs ringing in their ears and a renewed love for the story of Cinderella. Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella Enchanted will rate up there with their other musicals like Oklahoma, The King and I, South Pacific, and so many others as a love story for all ages. There are over 40 people who have collaborated to make the production tonight come together and each of them have contributed something to make the show much better than we could have ever envisioned when we started. Call and get your tickets today for what will surely be a big hit!