For the holidays, the 5th Avenue Theatre gives us a gift of nostalgia and sweetness with Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (tickets available now through December 31, at the 5th Avenue Theatre). Featuring a top-notch cast of local musical theatre talent, this show is hard not to love. And with Nick Garrison and Sarah Rudinoff as Cinderella’s stepsisters, well, you have to love it that much more.
We have an embarrassment of riches here in Seattle when it comes to singing actors, and many of them are featured in this show. Jennifer Paz was a spunky Cinderella with a perfect Disney princess voice. I last saw her as Mary Magdalene in the Village Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar, so it was great to see her name get top billing in this show. Paz is a star that we won’t get to keep for very much longer.
Brandon O’Neill was a spot-on Prince Charming who totally pulled off an all-white suit with a sparkly sash (even after Labor Day). While his voice wasn’t as strong as Paz’s, he brought a warmth and depth to what is often a one-dimensional character. Their Act One duet, “The Sweetest Sounds,” highlighted the real chemistry between these two, making this story we know all-too-well that much more believable.
One of my favorite Seattle actors, Greg McCormick Allen, played Lionel the Herald. Now here is a guy who can play the Danny Kaye sort of roles with complete, irony-free conviction. In “The Prince is Giving a Ball,” his effortless tap dancing, 40’s-tinged speaking and singing style, and endless charisma won the audience over immediately.
As strong as those three were, the show really was stolen by the stepsisters. Nick Garrison as Joy and Sarah Rudinoff as Grace were so perfectly cast and clearly enjoyed every minute. Garrison is such a compelling presence that you have a hard time taking your eyes off of him. He played Joy the way only a world-class drag queen could–with every eye-roll, every facial tic, every forced smile intentional, stylized, and fabulous. Rudinoff plays off him well with her physical comedy and excellent timing, and together, they were unstoppable. Meanwhile, Suzanne Bouchard as Cinderella’s stepmother, Cynthia Jones as the Queen, and Allen Fitzpatrick as the King each brought their studied chops to their roles, thereby raising everyone’s game.
Obviously, there were few surprises in this story, not even for the young ones in the audience. But this show isn’t about that. When the Fairy Godmother stepped in front of the scrim in her dazzlingly blue dress to narrate the beginning of the story, you could almost feel the Baby Boomers in the audience leave their bodies and go back in time to when they watched the classic 1965 television production starring a young Leslie Ann Warren. When Paz started to sing “In My Own Little Corner,” the 60-ish woman next to me had tears flowing down her face that had less to do with Cinderella than they did about a time when things could still be magical for her. This show will take you there too.