Le monde des musicals

The timeless enchantment of a magical fairy tale is reborn with the Rodgers & Hammerstein hallmarks of originality, charm and elegance. Originally presented on television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA was the most widely viewed program in the history of the medium. Its recreation in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren was no less successful in transporting a new generation to the miraculous kingdom of dreams-come-true, and so was a second remake in 1997, which starred Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as her Fairy Godmother. As adapted for the stage, with great warmth and more than a touch of hilarity, the hearts of children and adults alike still soar when the slipper fits.

Acte I
In the village square, a Herald proclaims: The Prince Is Giving a Ball to celebrate the Prince's 21st birthday. The ladies of the kingdom are thrilled at the prospect of meeting him. Cinderella, whose beloved father has died, takes care of the home of her ill-tempered and selfish stepmother and stepsisters. She carries all of their shopping parcels for them, and when they return home, all three order Cinderella about. Left alone in her corner near the fire, she dreams of living an exotic life as a princess or anything other than a servant (In My Own Little Corner). Meanwhile, the King and Queen get ready for the big celebration (Royal Dressing Room Scene) and the servants discuss the planning for the feast (Your Majesties). They hope that their son will find a suitable bride, but the Prince is a bit apprehensive about meeting all the eager women of the kingdom. The Queen is touched by overhearing the King's discussion with his son and tells him she loves him (Boys and Girls Like You and Me [sometimes omitted, and not sung in any of the telecasts]).

As Cinderella's stepsisters get ready for the Ball, hoping that they will catch the Prince's eye, they laugh at Cinderella's dreams. Finally they leave, and Cinderella imagines having gone with them (In My Own Little Corner (reprise)). Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears and, persuaded by the fervor of Cinderella's wish to go to the Ball, she transforms Cinderella into a beautifully gowned young lady and her little mouse friends and a pumpkin into a glittering carriage with impressive footmen (Impossible; It's Possible) and she leaves for the Ball.

Acte II
Cinderella arrives at the palace at 11:30; before she enters, her Godmother warns her not to stay past midnight. The Prince has been bored by the attention of all the young ladies with whom he has had to dance, including the stepsisters. Cinderella's grand entrance immediately attracts everyone's attention and intrigues the Prince. They dance together and instantly fall in love (Ten Minutes Ago). Seeing the Prince with a petite beauty (whom they do not recognize), the stepsisters ask why he wouldn't prefer a substantial "usual" girl like them (Stepsisters' Lament). The Prince and Cinderella dance and find themselves with a private moment, and he declares his love for her (Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?). As they share a kiss, the clock begins to strike midnight, and Cinderella flees before the magic wears off; but in her haste, she drops a glass slipper.

Acte III
The next morning, Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters reminisce about the Ball and find that Cinderella is very intuitive about what it must have been like going to the Ball (When You're Driving Through the Moonlight) and dancing with the Prince (A Lovely Night). Meanwhile, the Prince is searching for the beauty with whom he danced, and who fled so quickly from the Ball. His Herald tries the slipper on all the ladies (The Search). At Cinderella's house, the slipper will not fit any of the ladies. Everyone tries to steer the Prince away from the servant girl, Cinderella, but she is not home; she is in the Palace garden. The prince returns to the Palace dejected by his lack of success. Prodded by the fairy godmother, his Herald tries the slipper on Cinderella. It fits, and the prince recognizes his beloved (Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful? (reprise)). Cinderella and the Prince marry, and all ends happily.

01. Original Version [1957]
02. Stage Version [1958] : Prepared for the 1958 London Production
03. Television Version [i] [1965] : Prepared for the 1965 Television Adaptation
04. Television Version [ii] [1997] : Prepared for the 1997 Television Version
05. Enchanted Edition [2000] : Based on the 1997 Television Production
06. Beane Version [2011] : Prepared for a 2012 Broadway Production

By today’s standards, it is almost impossible to conceive. The broadcast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA starring Julie Andrews on CBS-TV, March 31, 1957, was seen by the largest audience in the history of the planet at the time: 107,000,000 people in the USA, representing 60% of the country’s population at that time, and another 10,000,000 or so stretching from Canada to Cuba. It was an Event, a golden moment in the Golden Age of television. In an era when Broadway still commanded attention, this was a Broadway-caliber musical by Broadway’s most successful duo, starring Broadway’s brightest new talent. Broadcast night was opening night, and everyone in America was invited to attend.

In 1956 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2nd were indisputably the world’s most successful writers of musicals. Julie Andrews was a sparkling new star, having just triumphed in MY FAIR LADY. When her agent approached Rodgers and Hammerstein and suggested that the television audience would welcome a musical version of Cinderella, it was an irresistible temptation for all.

Everything about the project was right from the start. The CBS production team was quickly assembled. Richard Lewine, a distant cousin of Rodgers and a close friend, was the producer, Ralph Nelson the director. Howard Lindsay and his wife, Dorothy Stickney, were signed for the King and Queen; Jon Cypher played the Prince; the Stepmother and Stepsisters were made less frightening and more comic by Ilka Chase, Kaye Ballard, and Alice Ghostley; rather than the standard old crone, the beautiful Edi Adams played the Godmother.

Rodgers and Hammerstein approached the story with the honesty and simplicity that characterized all their work. They purposely did not seek to improve a story they felt was dramatically sound, as many writers are prone to do, instead concentrating on bringing the characters to life. Rodgers wrote in his autobiography Musical Stages, “In writing the story and the songs, Oscar and I felt that it was important to keep everything as traditional as possible, without any ‘modernizing’ or reaching for psychological significance.” When Hammerstein was asked where he found the version of Cinderella story he based his adaptation upon, he answered, “I looked it up in the encyclopedia.”

The marriage of music, lyrics and story in CINDERELLA exemplifies their artistic philosophy that seemed so revolutionary in OKLAHOMA! and so natural with their latest show, THE SOUND OF MUSIC that it had become the form of most musicals. All elements held together integrally to illuminate the characters. As Rodgers explained, “Although a few of its songs have become popular, our score for CINDERELLA is another example of what theatre music is really about. No matter what the medium, a score is more than a collection of individual songs. It is, or should be, a cohesive entity whose word and music are believable expressions of the characters singing them. When the lonely, bullied heroine sings “In My Own Little Corner,” it’s not merely a song, it’s a revelation of the girl herself. When she finishes, we know something more about her than we had before—her sense of humor, her naïve optimism, her imagination and her relationship to the rest of her family. It is fair to say that this song is familiar to a vast number of people, but it has never made anyone’s hit parade and never will; it is simply part of a score, and it is the score in toto that either succeeds or fails. Like a symphony, concerto or opera, some portions have greater appeal than others, but it is the work as a whole that makes the overall impression.”

CINDERELLA in toto succeeded. When it was broadcast on March 31, 1957, it was viewed by more people than any other program in the history of television.

Acte I
"Overture" (instrumental)
"The Prince Is Giving a Ball" (Herald and Chorus)
"Cinderella March" (instrumental)
"In My Own Little Corner" (Cinderella)
"The Prince Is Giving a Ball" (Reprise) (Chorus)
"Your Majesties" (Royal Dressing Room Scene) (King, Queen, Chef, Steward)
"In My Own Little Corner" (Reprise) (Cinderella)
"Impossible; It's Possible" (Cinderella and Fairy Godmother)

Acte II
"Gavotte" (instrumental)
"Ten Minutes Ago I Saw You" (Prince and Cinderella)
"Stepsisters' Lament" (Stepsisters)
"Waltz for a Ball" (instrumental and Chorus)
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (Prince and Cinderella)
"Never In a Thousand Years" (eventually omitted from the production)

Acte III
"When You're Driving Through the Moonlight" (Cinderella, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
"A Lovely Night" (Cinderella, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
"The Search" (instrumental)
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (reprise) (Prince)
"Wedding" (instrumental)
"Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" (reprise) (Chorus)

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Cinderella

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Cinderella