Ten minutes ago, there were reports along the eastern road of a golden carriage—or was that Northwood’s 2025 musical “Cinderella?”
Northwood’s production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” ran from Feb. 13-15 in the Northwood theater. The show lived its own message of making the impossible “possible” by garnering the fifth highest ticket sales in Northwood history.
The crew’s stunning attention to detail and cast’s exceptional acting allowed the story to “bum diddy bum bum” its way into the audience’s hearts.
“Cinderella” follows Ella (sophomore Grace Huang, junior Meiwen Zajtmann), who is treated like a servant by her stepmother, Madame (junior Kathleen Shumate) and stepsisters, Gabrielle (junior Hannah Davidson) and Charlotte (junior Minnie Chi).
Meanwhile, Prince Topher (sophomore Matthew Chan) mindlessly approves laws drafted by his advisor Lord Chancellor Sebastian (senior Levi Lane).
In response, Jean-Michel (junior Kamron Jamali) attempts to incite a revolution among the peasants, only to be overshadowed by the prince’s upcoming ball.
With the help of her fairy godmother, Marie (junior Kyra Silver), Ella attends the ball to meet Topher and warn him about the injustices facing his kingdom, but her sudden escape at midnight leaves the audience in anticipation of how she can bring change to the kingdom.
The script followed the 2013 revival of the production, which made several changes to the original 1957 version of the show, including making the prince an orphan, adding the characters of Jean-Michel and Sebastian and softening one of the stepsisters, Gabrielle, to be an ally of Cinderella. The addition of more featured characters allowed for the many talented actors to each have moments to shine.
The story flowed seamlessly through an impressive number of sets, including a forest and the interior and exterior of a palace and Cinderella’s home, due to the crew’s clever use of a projection screen backdrop.
Beautiful, soft lighting captured the fairy tale spirit of the musical and enhanced the magical moments, such as Ella’s on stage transformation into a late Victorian-era gown.
The most elaborate set piece was the wooden carriage wheeled on stage during the iconic fairy godmother scene. Standing at 7 feet tall, Ella required a stool to step into the carriage, which was sturdy enough to move while carrying three actors.
While “Cinderella” had its fair share of emotional scenes, it certainly wasn’t short on comedic moments. From Charlotte’s unintentional insults of the prince to the overly passionate confessions of love between Gabrielle and Jean-Michel, the hilarious dialogue added a memorable sparkle to the story.
The range of emotions conveyed by the cast further proved their acting skill. Both Huang and Zajtmann’s portrayal of Ella’s compassion complimented Chan’s depiction of Topher’s journey from uncertainty to confidence.
This journey was further developed through musical numbers such as Ella’s “In My Own Little Corner” and Topher’s “Me, Who Am I?”
The leads weren’t the only stars of the show. Shumate portrayed Madame’s cruelty and vanity with both vicious and humorous dialogue.
Chi’s delivery of Charlotte’s imprudence and ill manners continually provided the story with comedic relief, and her spoiled personality shone in the musical number “Stepsister’s Lament.”
Additionally, senior Elisa Bae covered the role of Lord Pinkleton, usually played by senior Evelyn Guo, for both Saturday shows. Bae did an excellent job performing the difficult soprano lines, especially given short notice.
Northwood’s “Cinderella” created a story for everyone, delivering both a classic fairy tale and a deeper story about imagination, kindness and standing up to injustice.
