Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical based around the fairytale of Cinderella has certainly had a bit of a time of it with regard starting, stopping, when will it start, will it start? All thanks to the pandemic of course and having had tickets for this for earlier in the year, then it got delayed, I did wonder whether it would happen.
It did of course otherwise what is this all about here?
To borrow the description from Wikipedia – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella is a stage musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by David Zippel and a book by Emerald Fennell. The musical’s plot is based loosely on the classic story of the same name, but the gender relationships are recast, and a critical thematic element concerns beauty shaming.
Starring Carrier Hope Fletcher in her first West End leading debut, not only that, but the cast recording is her too. She is brilliant in this. Having followed her career from her Youtube covers, seeing her in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (having a bit of fun with the fact her dad is NOT Michael Ball), also seeing her in Addams Family, and in the Les Miserables Staged Concert. It’s far to say she’s one of my favourite West End stars – and during lockdown, her “Good Morning” Youtube videos kept us sane – as well as educating us about theatre!
So what about Cinderella? Well, if you love ALW – You’ll love this. He uses familiar tropes throughout and the orchestration and songs are just amazing. Favourite use of the word Knob in any musical ever too!
Verdict: Cinderella may have taken time to get to the ball, but this will be a fairytale with not just a happily ever after!