WORLD-HERALD
Thanks to Lisa for this information!

Published Wednesday
February 13, 2002

Review: 'Cinderella' a pretty hip, funny tale

BY ASHLEY HASSEBROEK
     
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER  
Try to imagine an adaptation of the timeless 
classic, "Cinderella," in which the two evil stepsisters have 
Princess Leia cones on their heads that stretch more than a foot 
long. 
   
Where the servant Lionel tells his master, Prince Christopher, 
to "chill out" and Cinderella's little rodent friends know how 
to dance in sync to a Latin beat. 

Impossible, you think? 

Wait until you see the modern-day adaptation of Rodgers & 
Hammerstein's "Cinderella" playing at the Orpheum Theater this 
week. It's possible! 
  
This version, adapted for stage by Tom Briggs, with musical 
arrangements by Andrew Lippa and based on ABC-TV's 1997 version 
by Robert L. Freedman, opened Tuesday to a full house. The 
company will present seven more performances in Omaha. 

Though the story is true to the original fairy tale, the script 
is sprinkled with modern-day slang and many of the characters 
are given a distinct edge. 

Cinderella's Stepmother (Everett Quinton) has an unavoidable 
social ineptness, which is compounded by frizzy orange hair and 
a putrid green boa. Her daughters - Grace (NaTasha Yvette 
Williams) and Joy (Sandra Bargman) - have inherited their 
mother's horrible taste and are hilariously hopeless in their 
quest for the prince's affections. 

Other flamboyant players included the pot-bellied King 
Maximillian (Ken Prymus) and neurotic Queen Constantina (Leslie 
Becker). 

The audience's best-loved characters Tuesday were Cinderella's 
furry, life-size friends (four mice and her cat, Charles), 
controlled by visible puppeteers. 

Jessica Rush plays an innocent and wholesome Cinderella, and 
Paolo Montalban (the prince in the 1997 television version of 
the story) is a sincere but lovesick Prince Christopher. Their 
voices complement each other during their many numbers, 
producing a romantic, fairy-tale fluency. 

In a cast full of illustrious characters, Fairy Godmother Eartha 
Kitt grabs the most attention - and not just because of her 
slinky blue dress. Her distinctive purr of a voice and her 
spunky, "know-it-all" attitude keep the audience captivated.