There were plenty of pint-sized princesses wearing tiaras and gowns in the audience at a recent matinee of “Cinderella” at the Wick in Boca Raton.
They were dazzled with lilting tunes, whimsical sets and plenty of stage magic – just not the Disney kind they were expecting.
The holiday season is the perfect time for a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 television version (written seven years after Disney’s iconic animated feature) later adapted for the stage and revived on Broadway a decade ago.
The famed Broadway team sticks closely to the story’s French origins and there are the same elements of Disney’s version, including the prince and a ball, wicked stepmother and stepsisters, mice transformed into footmen and, of course, a pumpkin coach.
“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” and “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” are substituted with “In My Own Little Corner” and “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?,” two melodic classics largely forgotten except by the most dedicated musical theater buff. And, for the 2013 revival, Douglas Carter Beane updated the book for a Millennial audience – Prince Christopher is now “Topher” and social issues like the environment and income inequality take center stage.
In her curtain speech, Executive Managing Producer Marilynn Wick said the production was the most ambitious in the company’s nine-season history and she wasn’t kidding.
In addition to a cast of 26 (it literally takes a village), the production boasts large-scale, whimsical sets by Sean McClelland and elaborate projections by Josieu T. Jean, leveraging the investment the Wick recently made into projection mapping technology (on display in the new adjoining Museum Club).
And then there are the costumes! Wick leveraged the vast resources of Costume World, her theatrical costuming company, to both outfit knights and knaves and the local townspeople in opulent gowns and suits for the ball. Designer Travis Grant also manages to recreate William Ivey Long’s Tony Award-winning onstage transformations of Crazy Marie into the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella into the princess she dreams of becoming.
In a production with endless special effects, costumes and big ensemble numbers, it might be easy to lose the individual performances, but director Norb Joerder never lets that occur. In this particular performance, Cinderella was portrayed by local Carbonell winner Mallory Newbrough (sharing the role with Daniela Moss) charmed adults and children alike and Elliot Mahan proved a suitable suitor as Prince Topher. The reigning grand dame of South Florida theater, Angie Radosh, also shines as Madame, Cinderella’s ill-willed stepmother, as does Alexander Blanco as Jean-Michel, writer Beane’s social conscience among the cast.
New York choreographer Oren Korenblum’s intricate ball numbers, executed capably by the cast, also deserve mention. Fresh off a Carbonell win for his work on “Come Out! Come Out!” at the Foundry, he demonstrates creativity across diverse styles.
Even though the Disney princesses in the audience – and likely their parents, too – didn’t quite the show they were probably anticipating, Wick does not disappoint. Rather, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” offers a magical surprise for the holiday season.
See Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” at the Wick Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Hwy. in Boca Raton, through Dec. 24. Tickets are $79 at TheWick.org.
