Bangkok Post: The world windows to Thailand

Review

Imagine a musical filled with too much talk, a fairy tale with reticent magical scenes, a classic filled with slapstick jokes. That's what happened with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which struggled to drag Thai audiences to the ball during its Asian tour in Bangkok between December 16 and 21.

Producers and directors know that staging any well-known story has some inherent risks. Audiences of all generations know the Cinderella storyline by heart, as it was reproduced in countless films, ballets and operas. It is natural that audiences, especially small children, would expect magical moments full of abracadabra and surprise.

Unfortunately, the production, presented by Broadway Asia Entertainment, failed to recreate such spectacular moments from the classic tale and mainly attempted to succeed on the legacy of its main star, Lea Salonga.

Honestly, even the multi-award-winning singer alone could make a wish come true; there is no question about her top-notch, god-gifted voice. But her characterisation of the title role is not quite believable or charming. While many would expect to see fanciful, starry-eyed princess material in Salonga's interpretation, her facial expression was too dramatic, her performance too realistic. Her determination to belt out at the top of her lungs was so strong that the whole performance looked like a drama-like musical rather than a dreamy tale.

It is not fair to compare her interpretation of Cinderella with that of Julie Andrews, who played the role in 1957 for a CBS telecast when she was 22. While the role was exclusively written for Andrews, who had just earned critical acclaim for her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in the world-renowned musical comedy My Fair Lady, Salonga is already at the peak of theatrical stardom - with strong dramatic signature in her performance in Miss Saigon, not a musical comedy. Salonga, now 37, appeared almost self-conscious and artificial in certain scenes, and the spirit of the character was lost in her strong personality and rigid vocalisation. She could have just reused the vocal arrangement she designed for Princess Jasmine, the role she sang in Walt Disney's Aladdin, in her portrayal of Cinderella.

Missing in this two-and-a-half-hour performance were any spellbinding moments. Despite heavy promotion as a family show, there were only four scenes that offered miraculous flash - including animated mice puppetry, brief acrobatic acts in preparation for a ball and, most notably, quick changes back-and-forth, from a rag dress to ball gown in three seconds.

A review published in The New York Times in 1957 called the original musical a pleasant Cinderella that lacked a magic touch, and criticised the songs as being not top-drawer Rodgers and Hammerstein. Five decades later, it is still the case for this production. With award-winning teams for set and costume design, director Bobby Garcia could have offered more stage miracles.

Probably he and his team were too loyal to the original concept by Hammerstein, who apparently attempted to make his Cinderella more self-reliant and realistic. Three different scenes discussed the issue of fantasy versus reality, hope versus the facts of life. Such efforts aim to tell the audience not to expect miracles to happen. But isn't Cinderella supposed to be a fantasy escape from cruel reality? Caught in this limbo, the show came out with a disproportionate mix of romanticism, imaginary, reality and dark humanity, which somehow killed the spirit of the fairy tale.

Besides the script, other shortcomings included some basic pitfalls of showmanship, such as the use of stock characters, incongruous costumes, two-dimensional sets and awkward transitions, especially in act two when Cinderella left the ballroom, and when Prince Charming was happily reunited with and then suddenly left his future bride. Planned jokes and gags, from physical pranks, slapstick farce and witty puns flew in for the sake of pleasing the crowd in the hope that audience laughter could spice up the monotonous atmosphere.

Luckily, this was made up for by a tickling fairy godmother, wise-cracking king, motherly queen, towering price charming and crowd-pleasing ensembles, mostly stock characters with stereotypical acting styles that acceptably fit the story.

Ironically speaking, it is possible that the show itself suffered from a Cinderella complex, a psychological term for fear of independence. Considering the advances in theatrical craftsmanship and technique that make once-impossible things possible, the director and team should have dared to step out of typical ways of telling the story. A fresh interpretation, more thoughtfully stylised characterisation, sizzling stage spectacle and a well-synchronised combination of showmanship would have resulted in a more enchanted performance.