Cinderella

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.

Don't miss the Tony Award® winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music that delighted Broadway audiences with its surprisingly contemporary take on the classic tale.

In 1956 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II 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 & Hammerstein and suggested that the television audience would welcome a musical version of "Cinderella," it was an irresistible temptation for all.

Rodgers & 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 exemplified their artistic philosophy; 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..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.”.