'Cinderella' wraps up final week of performances
Shakespeare Santa Cruz is celebrating the holiday season with the return of its acclaimed musical version of “Cinderella,” which runs through December 18 at the UCSC Theater Arts Mainstage.
 Shoshana Brooks plays Cinderella in the Shakespeare Santa Cruz production. Photo: Steve DiBartolomeo |
“Cinderella: A New Telling of an Old Tale” was created for Shakespeare Santa Cruz by Paul Whitworth and Kate Hawley, with music composed and arranged by Gregg Coffin. The show opened to rave reviews in its 1999 world premiere and sold out again in 2000.
Whitworth, artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz and director of “Cinderella,” is well known to audiences in the Bay Area and beyond for his work as both an actor and director. Hawley, playwright and lyricist for the production, also wrote the enormously popular holiday shows “Gretel and Hansel” and “The Princess and the Pea.”
This creative version of the beloved fairy tale features extravagantly outlandish costumes by B. Modern, exuberant choreography by Terry Barto, and spectacular sets by Dipu Gupta. Director Whitworth promises that all the colorful characters will be back: Cinderella, Prince Charming, Little Bo Peep and her very naughty sheep, along with the Ugly Stepsisters (Regan and Goneril) and Cinderella’s astonishingly awful Stepmother, Mrs. Baden-Rotten.
The story of Cinderella has been a treasured folktale for many years; over 300 versions had been collected from all over the world by 1893, including one published in 1697. It also has long been a favorite subject for “pantomime,” a form of theater unique to England that employs humor and music to tell a traditional fairy tale. Shakespeare Santa Cruz's “Cinderella” blends English pantomime with the American musical to create a charmingly unique entertainment.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel advised readers not to “miss this holiday classic. If you don't have any kids to take, just go out and borrow some. You'll love it.” Good Times added: “When a production of ‘Cinderella’ is going to be onstage in Santa Cruz, it better be hip, contemporary and progressive. And that’s exactly what audiences will find when they see Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s staged retelling of the classic fairy tale. This is a tale for children, adults, diehard fairy tale traditionalists and those who want a little spice in ‘Cinderella.’”
Tickets for all remaining shows are $18/$14 for children age 12 and younger, $26/$21 for seniors/students/UCSC staff, and $32/$27 for the general public.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.shakespearesantacruz.org or call the UCSC Ticket Office at (831) 459-2159.
