November 09, 2006
Cinderella, the Opera
I had a chance to see the opening night of La Cenerentola, by Rossini, last night at the Academy of Music. The lead Prince was out sick and the cover had to go on. He did wonderfully! I couldn't even tell that he wasn't the regular lead.
Gioacchino Rossini wrote La Cenerentola when was only 25 years old. The story is a little different than the traditional Cinderella fairy tale that we are all used to. The Prince, Cinderella, and the 2 step-sisters are still the same, but instead of an evil stop mother, Cinderella has an evil-stepfather. He took her inheritance and squandered it all on his two daughters, while leaving Cinderella with rags.
The basic plot is that the Prince pretends to be the servant, and the servant pretends to be the Prince. They both enter on stage and hilarity ensues.
I found the concept of the show rather interesting. They modernized it and made it take place in the 1950s. When the curtain opens after the Overture, we see a kitchen roll out on stage right. There is a kitchen drawer and counter top, an oven/stove that blows out smoke, a washing machine that blows out bubbles, and a refrigerator that doubles as a door for the characters' exits and entrances. One of the props that I loved most was the vacuum machine that was remote controlled. It would zoom on and off stage at different times during the show and chase the characters around. It got it's own curtain bow at the end of the show!
The one thing that I didn't really like about the show was that there was too much going on at one time. There would be projections on 3 screens, the chorus members are all doing a different action, the Prince and Cinderella are singing about love, the sisters and the father are crying and hitting each other, the oven is smoking, the servant is laughing, and to top it all off, the vacuum zooms on stage.
Other than that, I thought that it was a lovely production with a great cast and orchestra. I would recommend this show to anyone off all ages. This would be a great show to take your children to. Even if they don't understand what's going on, they will still have a fun time watching the projections, the hilarious characters, and the little vacuum cleaner.
Click on the photo to buy tickets or to get more information about Cinderella on the Kimmel Center website.
Photo Credit: PhillyFunGuide