There have been many versions of Cinderella over the centuries, going right back to Strabo in the first century AD and coming right up to Andrew Lloyd Webber in the present day.
Gioachino Rossini’s bubbling, sparkling opera, written when he was 25 years old, was seen in London in 1820 and has little to do with either Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm’s famous stories.
Parents and children brought up on Christmas pantomimes and Walt Disney’s 1950 film are going to be disappointed by ENO’s modern day reimagination, directed by Julia Burbach, designed by Herbert Murauer, and set in London.
The original Italian libretto by Jacopo Ferretti has been translated by Christopher Cowell. Rossini’s lovely score is conducted by Yi-Chen Lin.
You may think you know the story. Prince Ramiro (Aaron Godfrey-Mays) has to get married and he is looking for a wife and queen. He calls on Don Magnifico (Simon Bailey) to see if his daughters are suitable.
The twist is the Prince has swapped roles with his valet, Dandini (Charles Rice); and, in his role of valet, he immediately falls in love with Cinderella (Deepa Johnny) presuming she is Magnifico’s servant, not his stepdaughter.
You may be surprised to learn that there’s no fairy godmother. No pumpkin turned into a coach. No pony. No midnight curfew. No lost glass slipper. No Buttons. No wicked stepmother.
No Ugly Sisters played by men in drag. The sisters don’t cut off their toes and heels and they don’t get their eyes pecked by birds. Cinderella begs the Prince to forgive them
There is no grand ballroom and there is no grand staircase. There is a steep staircase, so narrow, so precarious, you are frightened somebody might fall off it
Cameron McMillan’s choreography keeps everybody, not just the dancers, on the move. But it is still a long evening. Two hours 50 minutes including an interval. Julia Burbach’s busy production lacks clarity. The performances don’t excite. I was disappointed.
What the production does have is the chorus in flaming red, dressed up to look like the portraits of the Prince’s ancestral spirits. They carry their own picture frames.
There are lots of children dressed up as mice, but they don’t transform into coachmen. They are just there, rushing around, with no explanation.
Simon Bailey is accompanied by a child dressed to look exactly like him, beard and all. The child imitates his gestures. It’s a cute music hall act.
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