Theatre Baton Rouge will present a magical tale of love and empowerment in ‘Cinderella’

It’s no spoiler to reveal that Cinderella gets her prince at the end of Theatre Baton Rouge’s summer musical, “Cinderella — Enchanted Version.”

Now, if she and Prince Christopher didn’t get married in the end, that would definitely be a spoiler. The prince is Christopher, not Prince Charming, in this take on the fairytale musical.

Cinderella’s story is a little different, too, this time around. It’s a mashup of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and the 1997 television movie. Brandy Norwood starred in that version of the tale with Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother.

The TV film, much like Drew Barrymore’s 1998 “Ever After,” provides some of Cinderella’s backstory, both requiring the future princess to pay some dues before she can win her prince.

This is the main lesson in Theatre Baton Rouge’s musical.

“Cinderella’s fairy godmother gets Cinderella to draw her own conclusions that she has the power within to do this, herself,” said Anna-Beth Henley, who plays Cinderella. “And so, Cinderella realizes that the fairy godmother is right. She says, ‘I can fix this dress that just got ripped, I can ride on one of the carriages passing by — thank you so much for your help for empowering me.'”

It’s at this moment of realization that everything changes for the girl who has been forced into servitude by her stepfamily.

“That’s when the fairy godmother starts helping with the dress and changing the pumpkin into a carriage,” Henley said.

Speaking of the fairy godmother, she isn’t an ethereal presence that pops onto the scene in a fog of fairy dust but a wise member of the community who doesn’t reveal her true magic until Cinderella is self-empowered.

“I don’t come in and give Cinderella a happily ever after,” said Daisha Badon, who plays the fairy godmother. “I give her baby steps toward it. I do provide a little bit of magic by turning mice into horses and a pumpkin into a carriage. But in the end, the fairy godmother is more like Cinderella’s guardian angel, and she can take Cinderella only as far as Cinderella wants to go. The rest is up to Cinderella.”

Paige Gagliano, meanwhile, can’t help getting a little giddy at mention of the carriage. She’s directing this 30-member musical cast, and she’s witnessed the design and creation of Cinderella’s ride to the royal ball, which will make the transformation from pumpkin to carriage on stage.

“It’s going to be so beautiful,” Gagliano said. “It’s covered with LED lights, and it’s just absolutely amazing.”

Henley won’t be the only Cinderella to ride in the carriage. Understudies have been cast for all of the main characters, with the exception of the fairy godmother. Two performances will feature the understudy cast during the show’s run.

Kristina Cawthon, who plays stepsister Joy, is Henley’s understudy for Cinderella. Playing Prince Christopher is Don Fields with Ben Dubin as his understudy.

The rest of the main cast features Lauren Rainey as the stepmother, and Arden McMillin as stepsister Grace. Their understudies, respectively, are Jennifer Pearson and Soo Park.

“If you see the show twice with two different casts, you’re really going to be seeing two different shows,” Fields said.

Why? Well, different actors bring different personalities to their roles.

Take Prince Christopher, for instance. Disney’s 1950 animated classic feature presents him as charming. Totally charming. OK, unbelievably charming.

But even a fairytale prince can’t live up to that.

“When I started doing character work with the prince, I had the initial moment of ‘Whoa, there’s a lot more depth to him,'” Fields said. “He’s not snarky, but he’s quick and very emotional. And he’s not necessarily trying to present himself as charming.”

So with this in mind, Fields and Dubin approach the character differently.

“There’s a good scene where Don is a little more defensive as the prince, and I’m kind of more like, ‘Pity me,'” Dubin said. “We have emotions that we play differently, and it’s cool to see how the other actors play off of that. They might react to Don a little more strongly, and they’ll react to me more softly. It really is almost a different show with the understudy cast.”

The show is performed under the musical direction of Jamie Leonard-Brubaker and with choreography by Hayley Westphal Burton.

And it all comes together in the end to tell Cinderella’s story of love and empowerment.

Theatre Baton Rouge’s summer musical, “Cinderella — Enchanted Version,” runs Friday through Sunday, and Thursdays through Sundays, June 20-23 and 27-30. Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. with all other performances beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 for adults and $25 for students and children ages 17 and younger. For tickets or more information, call (225) 924-6496 or visit theatrebr.org.