| ‘Cinderella’ pleasing all ages at the Paradise |
By: Shane Kitzman
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Posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 12:06 am
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Brittany Fitzgerald looked out into the crowd last weekend and saw many girls much like herself - clad in a princess dress.
The difference between the dress she wears and the ones the multitude of girls in the audience wore is she plays the glass slipper-wearing lead in “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” presented by Community Theatre at the Paradise Center for the Arts.
“It’s cool that it’s an opportunity to be a role model to younger girls,” 18-year-old Fitzgerald said. “There’s so much out there now so they need a positive influence in their life. It’s cool that I get to do it.”
The musical’s opening weekend was a sold out one with more than 250 people attending each of the three performances, said Ryan Heinritz, executive director of the Paradise Center.
The great turnout makes sense as artistic director Shelley Fitzgerald believes that “Cinderella” has yet to be performed in the region, whether in Owatonna, Northfield or in Faribault.
She said it might also be because “Cinderella” transcends generations.
“I love ‘Cinderella’ and it’s always been a show I’ve wanted to be involved with for years,” she said. “When the opportunity came up and we were thinking about doing a fairy tale — this was the perfect choice.”
“Cinderella” is Shelley Fitzgerald’s first directed community play after being the director of three plays at Medford High School. But the most stressful aspect may have been the fact that she is Brittany’s mother and so the audition period wasn’t easy.
“I wanted the audition process to be fair,” she said. “So I brought in two or three other people to help me make the decision.”
For those expecting a carbon copy of the Disney version that many know by heart, not so fast. The first difference is the fairy godmother isn’t a dumpy old lady but a young and attractive one instead, a choice that falls right in line with Shelley Fitzgerald’s vision of making this performance one that is “visually beautiful.” The step mother is also more comical and less sinister and the songs will also be a bit different, too.
While audiences naturally gravitate toward the lead, Shelley Fitzgerald said the scene stealers have consistently been the stepmother, played by Diane Hagen, and stepsisters, played by Linda Karnauskas and Vidette Ostermeier.
“I have an absolute veteran cast in those three roles,” Shelley Fitzgerald said. “These women have been around community threatre for years. They are wonderful comedians and everybody loves every minute of them on stage.”
Even Cinderella herself admitted it’s hard to stay in character and not laugh when Ostermeier and Karnauskas are cracking jokes.
The two-act musical featuring 16 songs in 13 scenes will be hitting its stride this weekend, Shelley Fitzgerald said. The only hiccups so far have been making those magical transformations go smoothly, such as when Cinderella’s dress goes from rags to riches and when the fairy godmother appears in an instant.
“There’s so many elements you have to bring in; from the orchestra to the lights to the sound,” she said. “And what’s nice about the second weekend is we have the chance to mesh. We really now know what we’re doing. I think audiences are really going to see a smooth and very flawless production this weekend.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” presented by Community Theatre at the Paradise Center for the Arts.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday night; 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Paradise Center for the Arts, 321 Central Ave.
Cost: $14 adults, $8 children 14 and under
Info: Call 332-7372 or go to paradisecenterforthearts.org for tickets.
— Shane Kitzman covers arts and entertainment for the Faribault Daily News. Reach him at 507-333-3135.
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