Matthew Bourne’s interpretation of the classic fairy tale, has, at its heart, a true war-time romance. A chance meeting results in a magical night for Cinderella and her dashing young RAF pilot, together just long enough to fall in love before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz.
Following the dazzling adaptation of The Red Shoes in 2017, New Adventures return to the Ahmanson with one of their most popular and beloved productions, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella—a thrilling and evocative love story, set in London during the Second World War.
With Lez Brotherston’s sumptuous Olivier Award-winning designs, lighting by Olivier Award-winning Neil Austin and video and projection designs by Duncan McLean, Cinderella will be performed in surround sound, designed by Paul Groothuis. Matthew Bourne’s vivid story telling has never been more heart-stopping and touching, and will take the audience into the heart of Prokofiev’s magnificent score, and the sights and sounds of war-torn London.
1940s London has little use for a fairy godmother, but a devilishly handsome angel who takes on the role of fate fits right in. Not only does he guide Cinderella to her soldier, he also encourages the city's inhabitants to dance as if they could die tomorrow–they could. Bourne is the same creative mind who brought us Swan Lake featuring male swans. A Beauty School Dropout Teen Angel posing as Cinderella's fairy godmother only makes sense...
The lead performers are supported by a wonderful ensemble. From start to finish, the ensemble navigates the audience through Cinderella's pilgrimage to the ball, and right onto the steps of the train at the end of the ballet when we see she and Harry happily board together.
Wickedly creative is the choreography, the sets, the costumes, lighting and sound, not to mention the score by Prokofiev. Cinderella Opus 87 is such a melodious wonderland for a choreographer and his artistic team to work with. There is such power, intensity and magic in this lively piece. In Sir Matthew Bourne's hands, and feet, it is a fabulous, imaginative display of artistry and brilliance.
There's nothing more beautiful in the arts than a fantastical ballet and once again Matthew Bourne, has created a masterpiece. He took a classic fairy tale and changed it into something more realistic, passionate and awe-inspiring.
While this dance-driven production has its captivating moments and all involved are obviously quite talented and well-intentioned, the show lacks magic. Yes, I'll say it — the Disney kind.
Overall, this Cinderella makes for a charming evening at the theater that is a bit of a departure from your typical musical or ballet, creating a unique blend of art with a happy ending that casts a spell.
Adding in a heartwarming touch, Cinderella's father Robert (Alan Vincent) is wheelchair bound and lovingly cared for by his daughter while ignored by Sybil (Madelaine Brennan), her evil Stepmother and self-centered Stepsisters Irene (Sophia Hurdley), Vivien (Anjali Mehra) and Stepbrothers Malcolm (Jackson Fisch), Vernon (Dan Wright) and Elliott (Stephen Murray). Their total disregard for Cinderella is always apparent, especially during Act 1 when the invitations arrive for the event at Café de Paris and they all mock her as the only one in the family not receiving one. Of course, in a marvelous modern updating, her Angel arrives on a white motorcycle with Cinderella in his sidecar waving an invitation to the party which opens Act 2.
Hats off to principal dancers Cordelia Braithwaite (Cinderella), Andrew Monaghan (Harry), Paris Fitzgerald (The Angel) and Anjali Mehra (Sybil, the stepmother). As plots go, this one thickens by the minute and is difficult to follow, if you're seeking to match it to the fairy tale. However, it does have a happy ending.
There is no dialog in Matthew Bourne's CINDERELLA. All is projected through effortless dance to melodies which let us know in no uncertain terms the emotions coursing through every character's being. Some tips are offered through bits of newsreels, old snapshots, some cinematic moments, and exquisite lighting and sound. For this is a multimedia productions which weds music, dance, and the digital world around us. At the same time, CINDERELLA also brings together past and present to create an intriguing new whole.
Currently performing at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, this exquisitely designed and athletically executed night of dance is nothing short of magical and, even more importantly, it is a deeply and surprisingly moving experience.
Everything about a work by Sir Matthew Bourne is pure magic; his angular, Nijinsky-inspired choreography is almost tribal in its individuality, heralding a new rule-breaking form of artistic communication almost primitive in nature. His hilariously inventive take on this familiar old classic could easily be compared to watching those indigenous ethnic tribes, long hidden in the planet's last bastions of remaining wilderness, performing their own self-evolved consanguineous raindances passed down from generation to generation, as Bourne's work should also be.
To convey such powerful feelings as love, loss and hope through only music and dance is a skill that Bourne commands and this production realizes. It's not the standard Cinderella story of your childhood– the cinders here are from the death and destruction of war– but Cinderella nonetheless offers a delightfully dreamy, gorgeously grown up, fun and frisky, occasionally devastating yet purely joyful experience.
Even with all this thoughtfulness, the achingly beautiful music, and the pointed narrative, the peak of the story comes at “this is the real me” moment, when Harry and Cinderella reveal their unglamorous selves to each other. They're probably contentedly together in old age today, recalling the Blitz and how they met.
Using documentary films of the Blitz and unsparing depictions of the carnage and brutality it caused, Bourne not only created a “Cinderella” for adults but a superb display of hallucinatory stagecraft.
1940s London has little use for a fairy godmother, but a devilishly handsome angel who takes on the role of fate fits right in. Not only does he guide Cinderella to her soldier, he also encourages the city's inhabitants to dance as if they could die tomorrow–they could. Bourne is the same creative mind who brought us Swan Lake featuring male swans. A Beauty School Dropout Teen Angel posing as Cinderella's fairy godmother only makes sense...
The lead performers are supported by a wonderful ensemble. From start to finish, the ensemble navigates the audience through Cinderella's pilgrimage to the ball, and right onto the steps of the train at the end of the ballet when we see she and Harry happily board together.
Wickedly creative is the choreography, the sets, the costumes, lighting and sound, not to mention the score by Prokofiev. Cinderella Opus 87 is such a melodious wonderland for a choreographer and his artistic team to work with. There is such power, intensity and magic in this lively piece. In Sir Matthew Bourne's hands, and feet, it is a fabulous, imaginative display of artistry and brilliance.
There's nothing more beautiful in the arts than a fantastical ballet and once again Matthew Bourne, has created a masterpiece. He took a classic fairy tale and changed it into something more realistic, passionate and awe-inspiring.
While this dance-driven production has its captivating moments and all involved are obviously quite talented and well-intentioned, the show lacks magic. Yes, I'll say it — the Disney kind.
Overall, this Cinderella makes for a charming evening at the theater that is a bit of a departure from your typical musical or ballet, creating a unique blend of art with a happy ending that casts a spell.
Adding in a heartwarming touch, Cinderella's father Robert (Alan Vincent) is wheelchair bound and lovingly cared for by his daughter while ignored by Sybil (Madelaine Brennan), her evil Stepmother and self-centered Stepsisters Irene (Sophia Hurdley), Vivien (Anjali Mehra) and Stepbrothers Malcolm (Jackson Fisch), Vernon (Dan Wright) and Elliott (Stephen Murray). Their total disregard for Cinderella is always apparent, especially during Act 1 when the invitations arrive for the event at Café de Paris and they all mock her as the only one in the family not receiving one. Of course, in a marvelous modern updating, her Angel arrives on a white motorcycle with Cinderella in his sidecar waving an invitation to the party which opens Act 2.
Hats off to principal dancers Cordelia Braithwaite (Cinderella), Andrew Monaghan (Harry), Paris Fitzgerald (The Angel) and Anjali Mehra (Sybil, the stepmother). As plots go, this one thickens by the minute and is difficult to follow, if you're seeking to match it to the fairy tale. However, it does have a happy ending.
There is no dialog in Matthew Bourne's CINDERELLA. All is projected through effortless dance to melodies which let us know in no uncertain terms the emotions coursing through every character's being. Some tips are offered through bits of newsreels, old snapshots, some cinematic moments, and exquisite lighting and sound. For this is a multimedia productions which weds music, dance, and the digital world around us. At the same time, CINDERELLA also brings together past and present to create an intriguing new whole.
Currently performing at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, this exquisitely designed and athletically executed night of dance is nothing short of magical and, even more importantly, it is a deeply and surprisingly moving experience.
Everything about a work by Sir Matthew Bourne is pure magic; his angular, Nijinsky-inspired choreography is almost tribal in its individuality, heralding a new rule-breaking form of artistic communication almost primitive in nature. His hilariously inventive take on this familiar old classic could easily be compared to watching those indigenous ethnic tribes, long hidden in the planet's last bastions of remaining wilderness, performing their own self-evolved consanguineous raindances passed down from generation to generation, as Bourne's work should also be.
To convey such powerful feelings as love, loss and hope through only music and dance is a skill that Bourne commands and this production realizes. It's not the standard Cinderella story of your childhood– the cinders here are from the death and destruction of war– but Cinderella nonetheless offers a delightfully dreamy, gorgeously grown up, fun and frisky, occasionally devastating yet purely joyful experience.
Even with all this thoughtfulness, the achingly beautiful music, and the pointed narrative, the peak of the story comes at “this is the real me” moment, when Harry and Cinderella reveal their unglamorous selves to each other. They're probably contentedly together in old age today, recalling the Blitz and how they met.
Using documentary films of the Blitz and unsparing depictions of the carnage and brutality it caused, Bourne not only created a “Cinderella” for adults but a superb display of hallucinatory stagecraft.
