This world premiere of Ever After has all the glamour and pizzazz we associate with Paper Mill Playhouse. The star performances are outstanding. Its subject, however, has competition from numerous other versions of the Cinderella story— in two Disney incarnations, in an updated Rodgers & Hammerstein production, and in the Sondheim spoof of Into the Woods.This new human back-story originated in the 1998 non-musical movie of the same name. Without doubt, there’s humor in some of its twists; but we wonder if there’s a Broadway audience for this embodiment.
This Cinderella is given a name, Danielle de Barbarac, and a father who dies after delivering a gorgeous opening song: “There is no such thing as ‘gone’/Ever after, ever after, love goes on.” He has just remarried, and his widow takes over his home and proceeds to treat Danielle as if she’s part of the property, turning her into a servant. Meanwhile, the stepmother grooms her own eldest daughter for marriage in high places. Danielle survives and eventually marries a prince, of course — yet she couldn’t do it without a man; in this case, Leonardo da Vinci. So she’s still not a self-sufficient, liberated person. Along her journey to happiness ever after, Danielle does display some assertive sentiments, such as in the song “Who Needs Love” where she tells us that happiness does not depend on finding a man. After she meets her prince, she proclaims a social agenda, urging him to become “the king you’ve been waiting and wanting to be.”
These feminist touches were a novelty when the movie Ever After came out in 1998, but similar views were expounded in the 2013 R&H Cinderella, so this no longer sounds so innovative. Songs remain as the raison d'être for musicals, and the score by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich has some excellent melodies. In addition to the songs quoted above, we hear lovely waltzes and soaring ballads. The music is reminiscent of Lerner and Loewe (as in Brigadoon, My Fair Lady and Camelot) and I intend that as a compliment. At the close of Act One, a gypsy chorus and dance are inserted, reminding us of Kalman’s operettas such as The Gypsy Princess, and I do not mean that as a compliment. The number comes out of left field and makes no sense except as an excuse from some diverting choreography. The character of da Vinci, also, is an arbitrary insertion. He performs all miracles normally done by the Fairy Godmother in the familiar fable, and his presence seems like a gimmick. Kathleen Marshall’s direction and choreography keep the proceedings interesting even when we know where the plot is heading. Getting back to the best things about the show, Margo Seibert and James Snyder are radiant of voice and personality. As Cinderella and the Prince, they get even better belting material than she had as Adrian in Rocky and he had as Idina Menzel’s lover in If/Then. Christine Ebersole is a delight as the evil stepmother, and there are nice turns by Mara Davi, Annie Funke, Charles Shaughnessy, Tony Sheldon and Julie Halston. And let’s not forget Fred Inkley in his brief but lovely appearance as Cinderella’s father.
