America in the Balance

CINDERELLA—A FANTASY COMES TO LIFE

AT THE CANDLIGHT PAVILION

by

Ken Eliasberg

As most of you know, I am a great fan of the Candlelight Pavilion, a cultural center worth its weight in gold. Musical theatre is a luxury that many suburban areas never experience. Good musical theatre is a treat. And the Candlelight Pavilion is, more often than not, a luxurious treat. Its current offering, running from June 23^rd to July 30^th, is the Rodgers & Hammerstein version of Cinderella, a musical rendition of the classic by the same name. Now one might be quick to dismiss Cinderella as a childish fantasy—in doing so, one would be guilty of a serious cultural blunder. The Candlelight’s version is quite clearly adult fare, and, in the hands of the Candlelight ensemble, tasteful fare indeed. But before discussing the theatrical version, a brief word on the story itself is worth mention, i.e. what makes a classic a classic?

A classic is a classic because it reflects, reveals, and imparts something of enduring value. And this is true whether it is wrapped in a childlike fantasy, a Shakespearian tragedy, or a Greek drama. Classics reflect the hopes, dreams, fears, and desires that are with us in our childhood and remain with us in that part of us that has protected and preserved those fundamental aspects of human nature. One may view this either as an appeal to the child that remains alive in each of us, or as the adult concerns that an author has chosen to make available to us in what appears to be a childlike story. Cinderella is of the latter variety, for it has all of the ingredients that make for wonderful theatre—hopes and dreams that transform despair into happy endings through the ministrations of a fairy Godmother. By the way, when I say it makes for wonderful theatre, it does so only in the hands of an impresario like Ben Bollinger and his family. Good material can easily result in bad theatre in the hands of the wrong cast, crew, script, and/or direction. That rarely is a problem at the Candlelight, where theatrical professionalism rivals that of the Great White Way.

Back to Cinderella. I’m certain that most of you know the story of a neglected and abused stepdaughter and stepsister who is magically lifted from her miserable, servile existence and transported by her friendly fairy Godmother to a happy-ending marriage to the prince. It is your routine rags- to-riches fairy tale put to music. But to dismiss it in this manner does not do justice to the story, and doesn’t begin to even deal with, let alone do justice to, the Candlelight rendition. By saying “routine” I do not mean to either trivialize or diminish in any way the beauty of the simple story of Cinderella. To do so would gloss over the fact that, by such a standard, all of life is routine—which, in a way it is. But that doesn’t make it less important, for, in the final analysis, what are we but the sum total of our hopes and dreams, our fears and fantasies, and our despair through which we must travel to our ultimate triumph. And, in that sense, Cinderella is everyone’s story, and that is why it is a classic that both entertains children and refreshes adults; for the children it is bubble of fantasy that enlivens their existence—for us adults, it reminds us that we were once children and rekindles that flame of innocence that is so important to being human.

The Candlelight’s Cinderella is a treat—to the eye, ear, and possibly most of all, to the heart. It is a treat to the eye because, not only is it good theatre in the sense of good acting, direction, stage management, etc., etc., but it is a thing of beauty. The costuming is lovely (friends, who accompanied us to the theatre, wanted to make certain that I put that in my review, and they were quite right in making this request, for the costuming is exceptional). The singing, dancing, and acting were, for the most part, quite extraordinary (and very entertaining). Cinderella and her Prince were a striking couple (Stephanie Wall, who plays Cinderella, is indeed a beautiful woman, so striking as to give any man pause to fantasize about volunteering for the job of prince). The Prince is princely, and their union is one devoutly to be desired. And it all comes alive at the Candlelight where my wife, and I and our friends had a wonderful evening. Cinderella is charming, delightful, and fun. I wholeheartedly recommend it!!

I was concerned about reviewing Cinderella because my publisher asked me to do so. In the past, my Candlelight outpourings were the spontaneous result of an effort that I initiated out of a desire to share with my readers something that I thought they might value and appreciate—I did the review out of a need to share, rather than at the request of anyone. And I’ve reached that stage of my life where I don’t do something on request unless it’s something that I really want to do. Some years back someone said to me that we spend most of our life trying to prove ourselves; at some point you put forth effor to express yourself. I resonate with that admonition, and it weighed on me when I undertook this assignment, fearful that the obligation might color my approach to the assignment—at least insofar as it eliminated any aspect of spontaneity. But, to be honest, it didn’t weight too heavily, so conditioned have I become to the excellence that is the Candlelight.

And I was not disappointed.