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Meanwhile, over at NORD, a little local classic was getting another airing. Cinderella Battistella, with music by the late Fred Palmisano and book and lyrics by Bob Bruce and David Cuthbert, was first produced in the late 1980s at Le Petit's Children's Corner, but has bubbled back to the surface several times since.
The story is told by Mother LeRoux (Lawana Menendez), a reader and advisor, who stirs a big moss-hung cauldron of Mumbo Jumbo Gumbo and offers teach-yourself videos for sale via her toll-free number.
We flash back to the 1950s. Cinderella Batistella (Country Day School senior Christina Peck) ...Read More
Meanwhile, over at NORD, a little local classic was getting another airing. Cinderella Battistella, with music by the late Fred Palmisano and book and lyrics by Bob Bruce and David Cuthbert, was first produced in the late 1980s at Le Petit's Children's Corner, but has bubbled back to the surface several times since.
The story is told by Mother LeRoux (Lawana Menendez), a reader and advisor, who stirs a big moss-hung cauldron of Mumbo Jumbo Gumbo and offers teach-yourself videos for sale via her toll-free number.
We flash back to the 1950s. Cinderella Batistella (Country Day School senior Christina Peck) lives "over in the Marigny." She suffers the verbal slings and arrows of her cruel stepmother, Evangeline DeLaParish Batistella (KeShauna Jones) and her catty daughters, Feliciana and Tangipahoa (Tracey Collins and Caitlyn Watson): "Cinderella Batistella, gonna lock her in the cella' -- if she gives us any static, gonna lock her in the attic!"
Mother LeRoux takes the ferry from Algiers, bringing Cinderella a ball gown to wear ("On this budget, you want special effects? Give me a break!"). She transforms Buster Crab (Querido Arias) and Berl Crawfish (Joey Giglio) into attendants. To be precise, Buster metamorphoses into a fey hair dresser in a sports coat with glitter lapels and a pompadour! In any case, Cinderella drives off to the Twelfth Night Ball in a snazzy convertible. There, she wins the heart of Harvey Canale Jr. (Robert Fielding), son of Harvey Canale Sr., The King Cake King (Gary Crowley).
All this takes place in a mood of beguiling silliness buoyed by a dozen of Palmisano's cheerful tunes. The lyrics are witty without being forced, as in "Mother's Slightly Tarnished Golden Rule."
Director Ty Tracy, as usual, manages to make his production entertaining while bringing along new talent (Harold Jenkins,Maurice Johnson and, Mia Plessy),regardless of age, in the chorus and minor parts. Kids are bound to love this lighthearted romp with its heavy dash of local spices.
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