![]() One of the stepsisters (Olivia-Faith Kamau as Gabrielle) is good-natured the parents of the prince (Jacob Fowler) are dead and he is influenced by a saturnine fixer, Sebastian (Lee Ormsby) and the most spectacular transformation is of the fairy godmother herself (a superb Julie Yammanee). ![]() If the kingdom looks familiar there are some quirks. Wickedly entertaining … Katie Ramshaw, centre, as Charlotte. This is a Broadway musical that looks snug, rather than squeezed, on a more modest stage. It’s a coup for Joseph Houston and William Whelton’s pint-sized Hope Mill to be presenting such a premiere but their theatre always punches above its weight. ![]() Unveiled in 2013, it took songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 made-for-TV musical, which starred Julie Andrews, and added a new book by Douglas Carter Beane. It’s taken almost 10 years for this Broadway version to reach Europe in a fully staged production. They’re delivered with verve by a young cast blending earnest sweetness with frothy mischief. Mind you, who cares about fabulous footwear with performances like these? Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical combines rapturous numbers including Impossible (“Such fol-de-rol and fiddledy dee of course is!”) with the crotchety comedy of Stepsisters’ Lament and honeyed ballads. A foot injury meant Grace Mouat missed several previews for Cinderella, yet go to the ball she shall – albeit wearing a supportive walking boot rather than a pair of glass slippers.
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