Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

Rebecca Varidel
21st Jun 2021

Continuing their wildly successful collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein shows including The King and I and South Pacific, Opera Australia and John Frost are collaborating again to produce the glorious Cinderella for the first time in Australia.

Lyndon Terracini for Opera Australia and John Frost for Crossroads Live have announced the lead cast for their contemporary retelling of one of the most loved musicals of all time, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella. The Tony® Award-winning Broadway production will have its Australian Premiere in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre from 16 November.

The role of Ella (Cinderella) a strong and intelligent young woman who dreams of escaping her endless chores so she might see the world, will be played by rising musical theatre star Shubshri Kandiah. Shubshri shot to fame when she made her professional debut as Princess Jasmine in the Australian tour of Disney’s Aladdin. She also played Ismene in Antigone with Queensland Theatre, performed in The Pearlfishers, and has just completed a national tour of Belvoir’s Australian musical Fangirls.

Playing opposite Shubshri will be her Aladdin co-star Ainsley Melham as Prince Topher the charming Prince of the kingdom who needs guidance and inspiration to realise his full potential. Ainsley most recently starred as the title role of Pippin, the musical which reopened Sydney theatres, but has also featured as Aladdin across Australia and on Broadway, Molina in MTC’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, Sonny in Xanadu at the Hayes Theatre Co and is currently performing in Merrily We Roll Along at the Hayes.

One of Australia’s most loved performers Silvie Paladino will play Marie, a senile poor woman who magically transforms into her true form as Ella’s wise and compassionate Fairy Godmother. Her many musical theatre roles have included Eponine (in Australia and London) and Fantine (London) in Les Misérables, Jeannie in Hair, Grizabella in Cats, Ellen in Miss Saigon, Donna in Mamma Mia!, Rita in Sideshow Alley, and Florence in Chess.

Tina Bursill is returning to the stage to play Madame, Ella’s stepmother, a vain and tyrannical woman only concerned with her wealth and the happiness is of her two daughters at the expense of her stepdaughter - after an extensive film and television career. Widely known for her current role as Meryl in Channel 9’s hit series Doctor Doctor, Tina began her career in revues and political satire, and has performed on stage for most Australian theatre companies and in the musicals Godspell, Grease and Manning Clark’s A History of Australia – The Musical.

Todd McKenney will play the role of Prince Topher’s Lord Chancellor, Sebastian. Todd’s extensive stage career includes his acclaimed performance as Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, and lead roles in Cabaret, La Cage aux Folles, Singin’ In the Rain, Anything Goes, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Annie, Grease, Anything Goes and recently as Lord Farquaad in Shrek. Todd is perhaps best known as a judge on Dancing With the Stars.

“Shubshri Kandiah is one of the newest shining stars in Australian musical theatre, and her chemistry with Ainsley Melham is truly breathtaking. It’s been a dream of ours to work with Silvie Paladino for years and we finally get the chance to cast her as the Fairy Godmother. It’s a thrill to invite Tina Bursill back to the musical stage as the Stepmother, and to welcome back Todd McKenney as Sebastian,” producers John Frost and Lyndon Terracini delighted. “The US creatives were overjoyed when they auditioned these talented performers and are very excited they are joining the Cinderella family.

“This is one of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s greatest scores and this production with beautiful orchestrations, magnificent costumes and sets, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love from the classic story, will have audiences clamouring for more.”

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is the Tony Award®-winning musical from the creators of The Sound of Music, Carousel and Oklahoma which has delighted audiences with its surprisingly contemporary take on the classic tale. This lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love - the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more, plus some surprising new twists. Be transported back to your childhood as you rediscover some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beloved songs including In My Own Little Corner, Impossible/It's Possible and Ten Minutes Ago in this hilarious and romantic experience for anyone who's ever had a dream.

Based on the fairytale story of Cinderella this is the only collaboration by Rodgers and Hammerstein written for television. Cinderella aired on 31 March 1957 on CBS. More than 100 million viewers saw the broadcast, more people than any other program in the history of television at the time, and Julie Andrews was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance as Cinderella. Cinderella was re-made for television in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren in the title role, Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon as the King and Queen, and Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother. A further television remake followed in 1997 with Brandy as Cinderella, Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother, Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother, Whoopi Goldberg as the Queen and Jason Alexander as Lionel.

The stage version of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella made its long-awaited Broadway debut in January 2013, featuring a new book by Douglas Carter Beane and direction by Mark Brokaw, and it ran for two years. Mr Beane’s book blends masterfully with the musical's cherished score, with songs including In My Own Little Corner, Impossible/It's Possible, Ten Minutes Ago and Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?

www.cinderellamusical.com.au