Found out we will be doing Cinderella for our high school fall musical. Any one done this? I have not seen this version (R&H) and just got a copy of the script today. I'm looking for any ideas (good and bad) to see where I need to go with this set (and where NOT to go). 

Thanks a bunch!

Aimee

Haven't seen it staged live - although I grew up watching the  Leslie Ann Warren version (and IMDB now reminds me, Ginger Rogers was the Queen and Celeste Holm was the Godmother), and if I recall correctly, it was fairly minimally staged, except possibly for the ball itself.  There's a trailer on videodetective.com which does give you an idea of the sets.  (Plus lots of closeups of Leslie Ann, which undoubtedly makes me happier than it does you.)

I started to call that version the "original", but apparently there is one a few years older with Julie Andrews.  I know nothing about that version.

The remake with Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, and Jason Alexander is pretty good too.  More lavish settings. I think.

Amazon has all three on DVD if you want to give them a look. Netflix has all 3 for rental as well.

Hope this helps.

the musical director said he'd like to see the fairy godmother's appearance to look really good....any ideas on that one?

We are doing the vesion with Julie Andrews.

Watch the Movie

When we did Cinderella we did similiar things to what Tristanrobin suggested. We had doors that looked like walls etc. Every time there was a magic effect the lights dimmed there was a flash of light and smoke, little music and voila! Magic! We did enlist the help of a local magician. His advice on slight of hand and distracting the audience's attention to get the tricks set up was invaluable.

One thing that we did that worked very well was the transformation of the pumpkin in to the coach. The whole thing came out on a wagon and looked like a pumpkin patch. The biggest pumpkin was the carriage and little pumpkins were wheels. We had realistic (silk) vines that fell over the whole thing. When it transformed the coach men moved a few poles that were behind the pumpkins and attached to vines. It turned into a coach with beautiful vine canopy and gorgeous gold wheels in seconds. It even had a battery and the whole thing was lit up with twinkle lights.

This show was a huge success with the kids in our area. They all wanted to have their pictures taken with Cinderella and the Prince after the show.

Linda

We did Cinderella last summer and really enjoyed it.  The script is weak, but it is 10 times better that either the Julie Andrews or the Leslie Ann Warren versions.  The Brandy version was fun, but deviated greatly from the RnH script in dialogue and song.

I agree with what others are saying.  Don't scrimp on the magic.  We also had some fun with marketing.  We had one of the stepsisters (in costume) deliver "wedding invitations" to the press inviting them to Cinderella and the Prince's wedding.  The two major papers in town also got blue cardboard chests (dollar store) filled with with a miniature bottle of champagne, a glass slipper (plastic-wedding decoration), a godiva chocolate bar, some wedding mints, and a "scroll" tied with gold ribbon (contained show info, bios, and press release).  The stepsister delivered it in character...and the press loved it!