Thanks to Lisa for this article!
A review from NY NewsDay

Meadow Has Lark Playing Cinderella
And for Sigler, the role is a wish come true
by Steve Parks
Staff Writer

'I THINK I'M a lot more like Cinderella than Meadow," says Jamie-
Lynn Sigler. 

Meadow, of course, would be Meadow Soprano, daughter of Tony and 
Carmela in the hot-hot HBO series "The Sopranos." And Cinderella 
is well- known, even to those without cable. 

Sigler, the actress from Jericho who turns 20 later this month, 
plays them both. The third season of "The Sopranos" continues 
with another new episode Sunday night. Meanwhile, at Madison 
Square Garden Theatre, Sigler opens tonight in the title role of 
the Rogers and Hammerstein retelling of "Cinderella." Sigler, 
who answers to Jamie- though she gets stopped on the street "all 
the time," she says, by people shouting, "Meadow!"-may be 
excused for mistaking her life for that of a fairy tale 
princess. 

"Meadow's another sort of princess," says Sigler in a phone 
interview from Fort Lauderdale, where she had been touring 
in "Cinderella." As for identifying with Cinderella, well, 
Sigler never rode to a ball in a magic pumpkin before. 

But so far her dreams have come true. 

Not that she ever dreamed of playing aborn-to-the- mob spoiled 
brat. But Sigler has dreamed of a show-business career since her 
first appearance on stage in another Rodgers and Hammerstein 
musical, "The Sound of Music" at age 9. She played little Marta 
von Trapp at the former Plaza Playhouse in Old Bethpage, now 
known as Cultural Arts Playhouse. 

"I'm happy, absolutely, to be back in theater," says Sigler. "I 
get to play a completely different character. It's hard to 
convince people sometimes that I'm really not Meadow." Not that 
she's complaining. Without her "Sopranos" breakthrough, Sigler 
admits, she probably wouldn't have the opportunity to 
play "Cinderella" on a national tour that brings her home to New 
York through May 13. 

"I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed," says the young 
actress, who now has her own apartment in Manhattan. She's also 
looking forward to playing Cinderella in front of family and 
friends, she says, adding that she's the only Sigler who's ever 
had a career in show business. Her father, Steve, is president 
of the Men's Senior Baseball League, and her mother, Connie, is 
a homemaker. 

Besides filming 13 episodes of "The Sopranos" each of the last 
three years, Sigler also graduated from Jericho High School-"I'm 
glad I got to go to my senior prom and finish school with my 
friends"-and began undergraduate studies at New York University. 
(She's put college on hold for now because of her "crazed" 
schedule.) Before "The Sopranos," Sigler was a regular on stage, 
appearing in lead roles in several shows at Cultural Arts 
Playhouse, from "The Diary of Anne Frank" to "The Wiz"; 
as "Annie" in summer stock; and on national tour in a musical 
version of "It's a Wonderful Life." When the offer to play 
Cinderella came her way this winter, she jumped at the chance, 
though it meant she'd have only two days off after wrapping up 
the last "Sopranos" episode in February. It also meant having to 
juggle plans for her first CD. (She's recording an as-yet 
untitled collection of Latin/R&B songs for release in the fall, 
after filming starts for the fourth season of "The 
Sopranos.") "It took some adjustment, going on tour with a 
musical after all this time," Sigler says. "I wasn't used to 
projecting after so much work in TV. 

There's an attitude adjustment, too, going from Meadow to 
Cinderella." It helped to have different faces around. Not that 
Sigler doesn't get along with her fellow "Sopranos" cast 
members. She and her TV mom, Edie Falco, took to each other 
right away, trading stories about Long Island theater gigs. 

Falco, who's from Northport, started out at Arena Players in 
East Farmingdale, where her mother, Jane Anderson, still 
performs occasionally. Lorraine Bracco, who plays Tony Soprano's 
shrink, is from Westbury. "I think our Long Island accents 
helped," says Sigler, noting series creator David Chase's 
penchant for New York-New Jersey authenticity in the show. 

In "Cinderella," Sigler gets to work for the first time with 
Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother. Playing the romantic lead 
opposite Paolo Montalban hasn't been so bad, either. Voted among 
the "50 Most Beautiful People" in 1998 by People magazine, 
Montalban "makes a perfect Prince Charming," Sigler says. 

Meadow should be so lucky. 

WHERE & WHEN "Cinderella," the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, 
opens 7:30 tonight at Madison Square Garden Theatre, where it 
runs through May 13. For tickets ($27.50-$75), call 212- 307-
4111 or visit the Garden or Radio City box offices.