Cinderella Stories

What is it about the Cinderella story that people like so much? Is it the rags-to-riches hope that fueled some of the American Dream? Is it the idea that a guy likes what he must pursue? Stories about a girl getting magical help to go to a party, meeting royalty, and leaving behind a trinket he uses to find her has been told many ways since the Ancient Greeks. Musical composers have played with Cinderella too, both as a full-fledged story and as a metaphor for other characters. Here's the collection I know of - a companion listing to the Broadway Matinee episode of Cinderella from Feb. 22, 2012.

Walt Disney Cinderella: We all know the 1950 film with the adorable mice. Ilene Woods voices the gentle soul that some women think is too meek and accepting, waiting for someone to save her instead of giving those stepsisters a punch in the nose. Mike Douglas as the prince has practically nothing to do except sing a lovely duet. Even Verna Felton's magic song isn't as long as we seem to remember from childhood. The focus is on the girl and the mice (recorded a la Chipmunks, I'm still looking for a straightforward performance of the Work Song/Cinderelli). Composers Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston recorded a demo called "I'm in the Middle of a Muddle" - we assume its their voices since there was no paperwork with the tape, and it's most likely the first draft of the Work Song. My guess is they gave that moment to the mice so the girl herself wouldn't sound like a complainer.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: What lovely music, introduced by a lovely Julie Andrews. There's the original 1957 studio recording, made less than two weeks before the live television broadcast. Right afterwards, Rodgers and Hammerstein had Mary Martin tour the country performing their Cinderella music with interactive storytelling. Meanwhile, R&H licensed it as a stage show for Britain, enhancing the traditional Cinderella pantomime shows at Christmastime - keeping the panto character of Buttons, a comic servant, and making the Ugly Sisters guys in drag. Another London studio recording, with new stars, came out for the following season. Eventually American t.v. audiences got a revival, of sorts, with Lesley Ann Warren (who did not have Andrews's vocal chops) in 1965. Disney and producer Whitney Houston made a multi-racial remake in 1997, but a licensed soundtrack is sadly unavailable; I love Bernadette Peters singing Falling in Love With Love as a lesson to her daughters. Some of the stylings added to that production were reflected in the Asian cast, billed as the "International Cast" starring Lea Salonga in 2008. The music is reportedly headed to Broadway next season, but with updated arrangements and a book that has Cinderella save the Prince (Cinderella meets Enchanted? Hope it doesn't play as contrived as it sounds!)

Cinderella by Cliff Richards & The Shadows: A very popular pop/early rock star in Britain, Richards had gone through a religious conversion and abandoned the sexy "exhibitionist" image. Part of the softer Richards was performances of Aladdin and Cinderella - both popular Brit pantos - written by "The Shadows" (his back-up group).

Cinderella produced/narrated by David Frost: This is an out-of-print 1972 LP, nearly impossible to find, so I haven't heard it yet. On the Starline label, Una Stubbs is the heroine with songs "That Kind of Day," and "If Only." Nicky Henson is the godmother with "Let's Imagine." British pantomime stars Beryl Reid and Barbara Windsor are the stepsisters. The album is filled out by the Mike Sammes Singers.

Cinderella from Drive Archive: While there's no record of these songs having been performed on stage, they are original songs that sound right for a children's-theater stage. No idea who actually wrote these songs, one source cites arranger Jim Timmens as Radio City Music Hall music director; he certainly arranged and conducted several award-winning recordings, many of them for children. The album was a Read-Along with lots of narration by Shirley Brown (very annoying to modern adult ears). Some listings credit the voices (Peggy Powers, Kay Lande, Alan Cole, Eric Carlson) as being the Sandpipers, but that shouldn't be confused with the pop singing group of the same name. This group was often credited as the Sandpiper Chorus or Golden Sandpipers.

The Slipper and the Rose: A few years after narrating Cinderella, David Frost produced a lavish film with music by Robert and Richard Sherman (of Mary Poppins fame). Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven star.

The Tale of Cinderella: An Italian version with a wooden-spoon-wielding Godmother and a matching Godfather for the prince (no mob jokes, though). Storytellers and much dialogue are included on the CD. I like the song for the "Unmarried Women" and their lamenting fathers.

Into the Woods: Stephen Sondheim's sweet but real fairytale is my all-time favorite musical. Cinderella's story is taken from the Brothers Grimm, complete with birds, magical tree, and steps smeared with pitch. Her tale is woven with other storybook characters. Three commercial vocal recordings exist: OBC with Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, OLC with Julia McKenzie and Imelda Staunton (remember the frog-faced pink Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter?) , and the Broadway Revival with Vanessa Williams and Laura Benanti. (Too bad the London voices are so difficult to understand and hear, it was the production I got to see first-hand.)

Sisterella - an R&B musical from Larry Hart (not to be confused with Richard Rodgers's early lyricist) developed for/by Michael Jackson. Many of the songs are too repetitive (like many pop songs brought to stage) but it has promise. And Yvette Cason rocks.

Bloomer Girl "Satin Gown and Silver Shoe" - I would swear that Celeste Holm was taking the place of either a godmother or Cinderella's birth mother singing a lullaby to the little girl.

Wish You Were Here - The camp resort has a dance where the ingenue goes hoping for love and the duet with Jack Cassidy speaks to the time disappearing because he's found love.

My Fair Lady: Yes this is a Cinderella story. And listen to Julie Andrews sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" - take away the maids saying get to bed and you have Cinderella after the ball. No wonder R&H asked her to be the star for their television Cinderella!