Review: ALW's 'Cinderella'

 by Lorcan Bonser-Wilton

For my birthday this year, I received tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new hit musical, Cinderella. With a witty script by Emerald Fennell of Killing Eve and his orchestrations, it was sure to be a great show from the start. However, due to the surge in Omicron cases, our original trip to see it post-Christmas had to be abandoned, and as a result we chose to move it to the weekend following year 10 exams - a good decision, I can say now! However, I received the devastating news that it would be closing early only a day after I had seen it - such a shame in my opinion, as it was a greatly enjoyable show. 

As it was a birthday present, I was able to abandon my usual bottom tier tickets and enjoy sitting in row E of the stalls. When booking the tickets, we were warned that we would be ‘moved in more ways than one’ - we certainly were! For those of you who cannot infer meaning from said phrase, essentially at the opening of Act 2 the front block of the stalls rotate along with the stage so you end up on the other side of it, and the famous ball is performed in the round! I must say that it was such a novel experience, and completely worth the money in the opinion of all of our party. 

The show rejects the traditional form of Cinderella; in this version, it is set in Belleville, which has won the Most Attractive Town prize for 49 years. However, when so called ‘Bad Cinderella’ ruins their chances for the 50th, a chain of events is set in motion, in which the missing Prince Charming’s awkward brother Sebastian must marry to avoid a peasant revolt. 

While conceived during a pandemic, the show did not at all skimp on the glitz and glamour often awarded to the likes of West End shows. The stage had a simple revolve, as common for many shows, but adorning it were technicolour surreal flats of the beautiful buildings of Belleville, in which the show is set. Additionally, as I had expected the costumes were greatly impressive, ranging from flowing ball gowns of numerous colours, to ambitious and often gravity-defying hair, such as that of the Queen. 

The rather large cast of the show was impeccably talented. I was very excited to see Carrie Hope Fletcher in the title role, and was not disappointed. She has an incredible singing voice perfect for the part, as well as a dynamic and impressive emotive range, which was lent well to her performance. Victoria Hamilton Barritt, who portrayed the wicked Stepmother, has incomparable comic timing, and her song and other various interactions with the Queen (played to a similar level of humour by Rebecca Trehearn) had the audience in stitches! Ivano Turco, who played Prince Sebastian, is fresh out of drama school, and this is his first professional engagement. However, he had a great sense of character, was very endearing and is both an excellent singer and an incredible dancer! Every Cinderella story has to have stepsisters involved, and here the simpering pair Adele and Marie were played by Leah Harris and Georgina Castle respectively. They were both excellent at their roles and very talented in my opinion. Other than those I have previously mentioned, the Godmother (portrayed by Gloria Ontiri) is a great singer, and additionally I was amused by the slightly odd and uncouth Act 1 finale with moving ‘mannequins’ in her shop! Finally, the ending had a brilliant twist involving the return of a certain Prince Charming, whose strong but tender persona was played well by Rodney Vubya. Overall, the cast was absolutely excellent, and as my mum commented afterwards, it is great to see such great diversity on stage, with BAME actors filling many of the main roles and doing so to a great level. 

Overall, I absolutely loved Cinderella and it was completely worth the wait. While it is sadly closing on Sunday 12th June, I urge everyone who is at all into theatre to go while they still can to see such a high production value and incredible cast. You will not regret your trip to the ball if you go!