Cinderella. Music by Richard Rodgers. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Adapted for the stage by Tom Briggs from the teleplay by Robert L. Freedman. Directed by Hannah McFadden and Justin Watson. Ickle Pickle Productions. Belconnen Theatre, January 9-24. Tickets: 6275 2700, canberraticketing.com.au.
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Ickle Pickle Productions is beginning its 10th anniversary with a production of Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein. For the company's artistic director, Justin Watson, it's almost like coming full circle.
"In 2005, Tempo Theatre did a production of Cinderella I directed," he says. It wasn't the same script, but it caught the attention of the Belconnen Community Services Arts and Culture Program, and Watson was asked to produce shows at its theatre. So Ickle Pickle Productions, named after Watson's cat, was created, with its first production being another fairytale, Goldilocks, written by Peter MacDonald.
Since then, Ickle Pickle has produced many shows, including locally written pantomimes and musicals such as The Rokitelly Man and West End and Broadway musicals such as Oliver! and Seussical. It has also been commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia to produce original productions to open new exhibitions, including Muse de Light, which opened the Masterpieces from Paris Exhibition in 2009.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is one of the musical duo's lesser-known shows. It began as a musical written for television, starring Julie Andrews in 1957, with two subsequent television versions in 1965 and 1997. There have also been several stage adaptations, including a recent Broadway production, but Ickle Pickle's version is the Enchanted Edition, based on Freedman's rewritten script for the 1997 TV show. Some other Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers were interpolated into the original score, which features songs such as In My Own Little Corner.
Watson says this Cinderella is based on the traditional story of the poor girl (played by Adellene Fitzsimmons), who is put to work by her wicked stepmother (Amy Jenkins) and stepsisters Joy (Risa Craig) and Grace (Holly Ross). In this version, the Prince (Pip Carroll) doesn't want to be married off by his parents, the King (Michael Miller) and Queen (Alyce King), but to find true love. But a ball is still organised to which all the eligible women go, including Cinderella, after a little help from her Fairy Godmother (Leanne Olsen). Of course, it's love at first sight for the Prince and Cinderella, but the story doesn't end there.
The show fits Ickle Pickle's usual requirements: it is aimed at a family audience and provides opportunities for adult and child performers – 33 of them. Watson says the show will have some funky and offbeat elements, inspired by shows such as WickedThe Lion KingRomeo + Juliet
Watson wants to revive Goldilocks as part of the 10th anniversary year and he is already looking towards January 2016. Beauty and the Beast
