Carrie Hope Fletcher, Laura Baldwin, Victora Hamilton-Barritt, and Georgina Castle in Cinderella, Photo Credit Tristram Kenton.This retelling of the 'rags-to-riches with bitches’ saga by Emerald Fennell may lose its way slightly, but offers a remarkably fresh update with an unapologetically goth and un-girly female lead (courtesy of Carrie Hope Fletcher) who strikes-up an unlikely friendship with the somewhat limp and insecure second-in-line Prince Sebastian (Ivano Turco). His infinitely better known and better regarded elder brother Charming (Caleb Roberts), has mysteriously absconded from the principality of Belleville leaving his ill-prepared sibling at the mercy of those superficial and body-obsessed townsfolk and courtiers who would compare him unfavourably — which is just about everyone but Cinderella.
Clearly AL-W had some cash burning a hole in his pocket during lockdown, for he has sprung a marvellous surprise on his audiences by installing a semi revolve beneath the entire first stalls section which steals the show at the top of second half just as the ball scene gets underway. By that point the audience has already been treated to the spectacle of The Queen (Rebecca Trehearn) cavorting with the ripped hunks of the company in “Man’s Man”, (where she bizarrely describes in rather too much detail, her eldest son’s physical attributes) and later, when joined by The Stepmother (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt), a mutual recognition song “I Know You” in which they display an amusingly disdainful contempt for each other. There’s considerable variance in the song styles throughout the show but David Zippel has a tidy knack with lyrics which manages to imbue wit and continuity, but it remains to be seen how long some of the modern references remain current. Set and costumes traverse the chasm between modern and powdered-wig period, verging on the risqué and revealing, which adds to the overall chic pantomime feel. But this show is definitely not just for Christmas and will undoubtedly have all round appeal, all year round.
Ivano Turco and Ensemble, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, Photo Credit Tristram Kenton.
