CINDERELLA
In 1986, however, CCB disappeared, the victim of rancorous arguments between management and the board of directors. Cinderella also disappeared from Chicago, and Thanksgiving became a balletic desert for thousands of families.
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The three-year absence has not withered Cinderella’s charms. She shows no sign of aging. Although the sets have been modified for touring, they still frame the story and the dancing with spectacle enough to delight adults as well as children. The magical pumpkin coach especially is every child’s dream of a fairy-tale fantasy come to life.
Happily, Mejia has stayed closer to tradition, and if memory serves me, this production is little different from CCB’s. It has the same pluses–lots of dance, and lots of adorable scene-stealer kids. One flaw is the minor confusion caused by telescoping the plot in the first act. A big plus is the Fairy Godmother’s expanded role–somewhat like the Lilac Fairy’s in The Sleeping Beauty. Maria Thomas brought a velvety authority and lovely expansive movement to the part.
Not every adult onstage was a professional dancer. Ruth Silverman, a local writer, had the enviable opportunity to camp it up as the stepmother, a role she alternated with Judy Hevrdejs, a Chicago Tribune reporter.
