Theater Thursday: Bad Cinderella

We were given complimentary tickets to Bad Cinderella for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

What: Bad Cinderella 

Where: Imperial Theatre

             249 W. 45th St.

             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 10 and Up

Bad Cinderella has good intentions. Its feisty heroine is not just sitting around waiting for a prince to rescue her. She isn't really trying to rescue herself either. She just spends most of her time being angry or occasionally sad. It's sweet that she and Prince Sebastian have been friends since childhood. It's too bad the two actors playing the roles don't have any chemistry though. 

Most of the characters are very one-dimensional. That is okay in a fairy tale, but not so great in a stage musical. It gets boring after a while.  The town's people in this show are very shallow. They only care about what is on the surface. They are obsessed with how they look. Cinderella doesn't care about that at all, but she doesn't really care about anything else either so it is hard to care about her. 

The Prince is supposed to be meek and unassuming compared to his older brother, the brave heroic one. However, he is so meek and unassuming that he is practically a nonentity and hardly worth caring about. His brother is like a cartoon character, all bravado and bluster, and no substance. 

There are no pumpkins changing into coaches or mice changing into footmen or anything like that in this version of the story. There are familiar elements from the original story, but they are not the same and are mostly not as good. The glass slippers are one of the few elements that do work as well here as in the original even though they are used in a different way. The shoes actually make even more sense here because the original plot point about shoes that only fit one person's feet doesn't make any sense.

There is still a fairy godmother. She is basically the proprietor of a salon, and Cinderella gets a makeover from her.  There are still an evil stepmother and stepsisters. The stepsisters are a bit overplayed. The stepmother, however, is deliciously played by the great, Carolee Carmello. She knows how to chew up the scenery just the right amount as does Grace Maclean. who plays the queen. They are two of the highlights of the show, and their scene together is delightfully fun.

Other highlights of the show include a few good songs. You will not be able to get the catchy title number out of your head. The costumes are great too. They are colorful and crazy.  However, on the whole maybe what we really need is a better Cinderella and not a bad Cinderella.

And that's our view. Tune in Saturday for Still More Theater Saturday,

Photo credits: 

All Bad Cinderella production photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman