One of my favorite summer traditions is to see a production, in conjunction with the UVU Theatre Department, at the Sundance Mountain Resort. I love being up in the mountains, where it is so much cooler than in the valley, watching a performance under the stars! This year the show is Cinderella and I was able to see it last night. Even though I don't especially love the Rodgers & Hammerstein version, this production is absolutely magical! In this more contemporary version of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella (Lizzy Jensen) becomes a social reformer who rescues Prince Topher (Dallin Suman) from the evil Lord Protector Sebastian (Bradley Moss) who is deceiving him about the conditions in his kingdom. Her stepmother (Amanda Crabb) and stepsister Charlotte (Erica Schoebinger) treat her badly but her other stepsister Gabrielle (Emma Wadsworth) becomes a sympathetic co-conspirator in pursuit of her own romance with a revolutionary named Jean-Michel (Brendan Hanks). An old beggar woman named Marie (Nikole York) becomes her Fairy Godmother after Cinderella shows her some kindness and, while she does help her get to the ball, she tells her that she has the power to make her own dreams come true. Everyone lives happily ever after in a constitutional monarchy! This is one of the strongest casts that I have seen in a production at Sundance! I was especially impressed with Jensen as Cinderella and York as the Fairy Godmother because they have beautiful voices and show impressive range in the songs "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Glass Slipper/ It's Possible," and "There Is Music In You." Suman is incredibly charismatic (and is very easy on the eyes) as Prince Topher and also has a lovely voice. He has great chemistry with Jensen and their rendition of "Ten Minutes Ago" is so romantic! Crabb steals every scene she is in and the audience roared with laughter in response to all of her antics! The same could be said of Schoebinger, especially in "Stepsister's Lament." The ensemble is also quite impressive and they execute the dynamic choreography very well in "The Prince Is Giving A Ball/ Now Is The Time" and "Ten Minutes Ago." I also really enjoyed how Topher's pursuit of Cinderella is staged because they run through moving arches of tree branches (the real pine trees surrounding the stage make this scene even more enchanting). The costumes are also some of the best I've seen at Sundance, particularly the uniforms worn by Prince Topher and his footmen (I loved all of the gold frogging) and the beautiful ball gowns worn by Cinderella (the transformation scenes are a lot of fun). The set consists of moving pieces that look like marble and are configured to become Cinderella's house, a large staircase in the palace, and the town square during various scenes. Cinderella's gold coach, with horses made out of puppets, is quite spectacular! I had the best time watching this delightful show and highly recommend getting a ticket to one of the four remaining performances (go here).
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