Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is a magical experience that epitomizes the name of Broadway. The set, costumes, music, lights and choreography are nothing short of divine. When you first enter the theater, you are immediately in awe of the strongest aspect of this production: the set. The stage features a life-sized enchanted forest with “tress” as tall as the ceiling and a lit-up backdrop of a twilight sky. The tress would move around throughout the performance to make way for different scenes. In front of your very eyes, an enchanted forest would turn into the outside of a charming house with a lit porch and a well. The twilight sky would turn to a starlit sky and a soft spotlight simulating moonlight would compliment the faint sound of crickets. Suddenly the house and tress move around and you’re in a town with a little cart selling baguettes, or a lush dining room with Victorian wallpaper, a chandelier, and china displayed on the walls. The world shakes once again and now you’re in, inevitably, a ballroom. A white Victorian gate opens up to become the walls of the ballroom, and a white marble bridge and staircase appear for the outside of the castle. Adults and children alike were in awe of the craftsmanship and technology. The set was so elaborate that it almost took focus away from the equally elaborate costumes. The wealthy were dressed in Elizabethan-style clothing. The women in particular seemed to all dress in shades of pink, which contrasted the earthy tones of the lower class. The most impressive costume, even more than Cinderella’s white satin off-the-shoulder ball gown, was the giant. If there was an actual human being on stilts under there, it was hidden well by twigs and leaves. The giant’s costume was ... ... middle of paper ... ...incesses, whose happy endings always seem to come with marriage, and the reality of women being the ones to hint for a proposal. The happy ending indeed came with a wedding and the stage lights were suddenly brighter than ever. Just as you’re sure the closing scene will be appropriately romantic, the clock strikes twelve and everyone waits for Cinderella to flee like a runaway bride. But to Prince Topher’s relief, she threw up her hands and said: “I’m good!” before letting her new husband kiss his bride. It was slightly disappointing not to hear any of the classic Cinderella songs in the performance, but the music, most of which came from the 1997 version starring Brandy Norwood, made up for the loss. The music was romantic and theatrical, the dancing, acrobatic, and every actor gracefully filled their character’s shoes… Especially the ones made out of glass.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
The director’s concept was again realized in a very creative and simple way. The stage crew did not have time to literally place trees on the stage, or to paint a border that elaborate—the light made the slatted walls look real and really allowed the audience to become a part of the experience.
Fairytales, the short stories that most children heard as they went to bed, are actually folktales from previous decades. The fairytales today are primarily adaptations of older versions recreated by Disney— the pioneers of this generation. With that said, the modern versions consistently display good triumphing over evil, a prince charming that constantly came to the rescue, and a happily ever after ending. However, the original folktale version didn’t always come with fortunate events, but often were more violent and gruesome. With the fairytale Cinderella, Disney maintains a similar theme as its Grimm version; however, the conflicts, events, and characters that support this idea are rather different.
Once upon a time there was a movie that stole hearts around the country, and that movie was named Cinderella. Whether you were a child of the eighty’s or the two-thousands this movie has been around remade, remastered and often retitled by countless directors and loved by children and adults alike. The movies have been mastered into classics such as Ella Enchanted, the Tommy O’Haver 2004 version stars Anne Hathaway as Ella a young girl given the curse of obedience by a very unwise fairy named Lucinda.
Technically, an outstanding aspect of this production were the meticulously detailed masks used by the ensemble during various scenes throughout the show. These tropes of traditional Greek theatre payed homage to the play’s origin while still creating a visually appealing aspect to the contemporary scenes.
Whether or not in Disney’s quest to be commercially successful, if the film was really able to be a storytelling and musical success. able to satirize the shortcomings of the princess movie-musical genre
The characters chosen in Grant’s “Cinderella” was heavy based by the American culture. The Cinderella seems more of an English name. The characters in the story had only one race which was Caucasian. The hairstyles also resemble the American culture with the big bows and have the hair tie into buns for special occasions. The clothing in this was very relevant at the times during the late 1940’s and 1950s in America. They wore skirts and a handkerchief in their hair while doing chores, or at work. The clothes of the Prince resemble a lot of how we see what a prince would wear during a special occasion. In the “Persian Cinderella”, Settareh was the name of the orphan in the story. All the characters in the story wore robes, and had no European, or American influence to the clothing. Settareh also had very black soft hair, and a polished ebony skin color. That makes sense the
Cinderella the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version is a modern twist to the classic Cinderella love story. The new diverse, all-star cast gives this older fairytale a more upbeat pace. A new cast with musical styling of Brandy and Whitney Houston. Adding the comedy style of Oprah Winfrey, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander makes this classic really come to life. This version of Cinderella adds in a more home vibe but keeps the tradition of true love and self worth. This is a good movie for family night and for people of all ages. A tale as old as time, this modern Cinderella will be a favorite to many people around the world. The popular group for this movie is younger girls who still believe in prince charming. This could
Both versions tell of a young lady, Cinderella whose fathter marries a wicked woman who hated her. The woman and kids would boss Cinderella around an mistreat her. Yet both versions vary greatly when it comes to diversity. Unlike the Grimm Brothers version the film by Rodgers and Hammerstein displayed women of all cultures. They gave the Cinderella story a modern twist and more of a magical feel. You hardly ever see an African-American as an lead character of an fairy tale. Many sterotypes can be created when it comes to race in fairy tales. This film give other races hope for change. From this film I grasp the whole idea of everyone being...
...gently every day and now has found the love of her life. Also, this version of Cinderella is more magical than the original which is more along the lines of today’s fairy tales. The movie Cinderella emphasizes that working hard and being well-behaved will result in an abundance of rewards.
The main message behind the Cinderella fairytale is that you should always stand up for what you believe in and never stop fulfilling your dream because the main title role Cinderella never gave up even after being enslaved by her stepmother for many years. These same characteristics are also shown in Strictly Ballroom because Scott continues to follow his dream which is to dance his own steps at the all-important Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship. Even though he was told numbers of times by his family and friends that he has to stick to strictly ballroom dance steps. However, both films have a character that guide them in the right path to accomplish there fantasy. For Cinderella, her fairy godmother comes into the film when Cinderella
Oklahoma was created by the Theater Guild to save themselves from bankruptcy. In order to resolve its financial crisis, the guild brought together Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers, one of the best composers for hit operettas and musical comedies (show time 299). This combination alone guarantees the popularity of the play. What’s more to the play other than reputation of the play wrights, is it’s creativity in several aspects. Unlike other musicals where the songs are merely used to cover scenic changes, Oklahoma uses songs as part of the storytelling and character building (show time 307). Music and dialogue, each is designed to work with the others, which makes Oklahoma a well-made musical play. Even the ballet is an inseparable part of the story. The ballet is completed by characters in the play, which makes it the same style as the entire show (show time 309). What’s more, the dancing adds to the story and the characters, which is unprecedented at the time. The beginning of the show is also quite unorthodox: it doesn’t begin with the typical pretty girls in provocative dresses dancing to jazz. On the contrary, it starts with Aunt Eller and Curly singing “O, what a beautiful morning!” just like in Rigg’s play. Afterall, broadway is always about breaking barriers. I think the innovations of this play is why it has earned such success despite its homogeneous rural setting.
In a typical classic romantic movie, there is always a Gallant, young, brave prince and a beautiful innocent girl who needs to be saved. In the movies, the prince finds the girl and saves her from her horrible life, then he brings her to the castle, they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. The film I watched completely fits this description. It exemplifies the genre perfectly. The roles of men and women in the classic movie Cinderella really emphasize the gender roles and the biases than used to be a big part of their society and their daily life during that time period. Also, the film showed how women are represented in classic romantic/fairytale films. After watching this movie, I can clearly see the expectations of each gender and how most decisions are based on appearances. There was a big contrast to when I compared those views to society's views today.
Overalls, Rodgers & Hammerstein 's Cinderella (1997) is one Cinderella movie that is unforgettable. The acting, choreography, and ridiculous scene that would makes you burst out laughing are tremendous. You have to watch this movie for yourself to see what I’m talking about. I can’t stand the fact how
This animated version was produced by American Walt Disney between 1901 and 1966, the most popular one being the 1950 version. Charles Perrault is credited for the writing of this story along with other authors who have adapted and animated the story. It is thought that Cinderella was chosen for production because it is similar to the Snow White story, of which the film had been a huge success (Disney n.d.). Disney was going through financial difficulties when Cinderella was made. And the movie became one of the highest grossing films of the year upon its release at over $4 million. As the Disney studio's 12th animated feature, Cinderella was a critical and public success that's now one of the company's most iconic stories. With memorable