Operatic society presentation certain to be a Cinderella experience
Posted Feb 11, 2010 By Roy Lewis
Email
Print
Tweet This
Click to Enlarge
EMC Entertainment - This year's presentation of the Brockville Operatic Society will feature two evil stepsisters who, in real life, are sisters and there will also be an opportunity for young members in the audience to dress up as their favourite on-stage character.
Roy Lewis, St. Lawrence EMC
Cinderella (portrayed by Eden Jamison) and the Prince (portrayed by Jeff Hookings) are the lead characters in the Brockville Operatic Society's production of the musical Cinderella to be presented at the Brockville Arts Centre on Feb. 18, 19 and 20.
The society is staging the musical version of the timeless fairy tale, Cinderella. Shows will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18 and Friday, Feb. 19 with both performances starting at 8 p.m. There will be two performances on Saturday, Feb. 20, with a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening performance starting at 8 p.m.
As is so often the case with Brockville Operatic Society presentations, several members from one family are involved in the production. The stepsisters are portrayed by real-life sisters, Gillian and Bethany Hosick, who are well-known for their public singing performances with their mother, Caroline especially during the New Year's Eve concerts. In the operatic society production, Caroline Hosick is the director of music.
Other cast members include Eden Jamison as Cinderella, Jeff Hookings as the prince, Lisa Leroux as the stepmother, Niki Houldcroft as the fairy godmother, Carola Johnston as the queen, and Howard Hess as Lionel the chief steward. The production is directed by Tammy MacKay while Marianne Bimm is stage manager, Raul Cirne is director of set building and Calvin Prescott is in charge of set design. Ingrid Doucette is choreographer. Members of the 30-member cast have been rehearsing since September.
For the Saturday matinee performance starting at 2 p.m., youngsters attending the performance are being invited to dress up either as Cinderella or the prince.
"Dressing as one of the characters has generated quite a bit of interest and ticket sales have been good for the Saturday matinee," said Peter Yerdon, who is co-producing Cinderella along with Jeneatha Oxley.
"The beauty of Cinderella is the story relates to everyone, whether they are five or eight-five," said Yerdon, who is also playing the role of the king in the production.
"Anyone can attend and enjoy the production," he added.
A major segment of the production is the transformation of the pumpkin to a coach and the changing of Cinderella's ragged dress to a ball gown.
"It is quite unique and people will have to come see what happens," said Yerdon.
Another first for the production is that a handicapped musician will be performing in the orchestra pit in the Brockville Arts Centre's auditorium. A recently-installed chairlift, part of the $2-million renovation program at the arts centre, will allow flutist Beth Fraser access to the pit, which would otherwise not have been possible for the musician. The chairlift will also provide access to the stage for handicapped performers.
ENCHANTED HISTORY
The operatic society's production is referred to as the enchanted version of Cinderella, so named because it includes a couple of extra songs. But the production is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical Cinderella, one of multiple versions of the story which dates back to ancient times. Following the highly-successful musical television production of Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin and broadcast on NBC television in 1956, rival network CBS was looking for something similar. CBS approached Rodgers and Hammerstein, one of Broadway's most famous musical writing teams, to develop a musical based on the Cinderella story.
Cinderella was broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 with Julie Andrews in the lead role of Cinderella. More than 100 million people watched the broadcast, which was the only musical Rodgers and Hammerstein ever wrote specifically for television.
Most are familiar with the popular version of Cinderella written by French author, Charles Perrault in 1697. That story was based on earlier versions about a young woman who was wrongfully treated by her cruel stepmother and two stepsisters who went to the ball given by the local prince. Cinderella, so named because she sat in the cinders by the fireplace, was forbidden from going to the ball and as she was crying her fairy godmother appeared.
Perrault's story added such elements as the fairy godmother turning a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman and lizards into footmen. The fairy godmother also created a beautiful gown for Cinderella so she could attend the ball where no one recognized her and the prince was enchanted by her beauty.
But all of the magic that had created the opportunity for Cinderella would disappear at midnight. As the clock tolled the midnight hour, Cinderella fled from the scene but dropped one of her glass slippers. The prince picked it up and tried the slipper on the women in his realm in an attempt to find the girl he had fallen in love with at the ball. After an exhaustive search, he discovered the slipper fit Cinderella perfectly. They were married and lived happily ever after.
While this version is over 300 years old, the story can be traced back over 2,000 years to the first century B.C. when the Greek historian Strabo recorded the oldest known version. In that account, a Greco-Egyptian girl, Rhodopis, is forced by servants to wash clothes in a stream while they go to a function presented by the Pharaoh Amasis. An eagle takes a rose-gilded sandal belonging to Rhodopis and drops it at the feet of the pharaoh. He goes in search of the owner and finds the sandal fits on the foot of Rhodopis. Different cultures have had variations on the story but all have the central theme of a gracious young woman being dominated by persons in their lives but ultimately helped to find true happiness.
The first movie adaptation of the story occurred in 1899 when a short, silent version of the story was made. Several silent movies followed as well as more-modern versions, including the acclaimed Walt Disney animated movie in 1950. Along with the CBS television production, there were two more made-for-television movies, one in 1964 and another in 1997 with an ethnically-diverse cast. The fairytale has also been the subject of operas, stage productions, books, novels, short stories and even video games.
Next week's presentation of Cinderella is one of two annual presentations given by the Brockville Operatic Society. Another show, featuring a variety of talent, is presented each fall at Thousand Islands Secondary School to raise funds to present the society's future show held in mid-winter. Fundraising is needed along with ticket sales for the productions, which are expensive to stage. While the cast and crew are all volunteers, Cinderella will still cost the society approximately $45,000, including the rental of the Brockville Arts Centre, rental of costumes, payment of royalties and hiring of a seven-piece musical ensemble.
Tickets for the society's production of Cinderella are now on sale at the Brockville Arts Centre box office. Prices, which include tax and surcharge, are $27.50 for adults, $17.50 for children 14 and under, and $26 each for groups of 20 or more.
Tickets can also be ordered on-line or by calling the arts centre at 613-342-7122 or toll free at 1-800-342-7122.
blog comments powered by Disqus
