When I first saw the 1997 television production of Cinderella, I had heard very little about it. At that time, I knew very little about the two previous incarnations - with Julie Andrews in 1957 and Lesley Ann Warren in 1965. In fact, I had seen only clips of the former, while I had been somewhat unimpressed by the latter when I had taken the soundtrack album out of the library. Seeing this newer version, with Brandy Norman, brought the material to life with me and has, over the past decade, given me great pleasure each time I have revisited it.
I find Brandy very compelling in the central role. Yes, she has a contemporary edge to her voice, the appropriateness of which has been debated with fervour on musical theatre boards over the years. But, like everything else in this version, singing in a traditional musical theatre style is by no means a hard and fast rule to be followed. And Brandy delivers where is counts - she creates a character in whom you can believe and for whom you really root.
She is supported by some very able performers. Paolo Montalban is a handsome prince with a pleasant singing voice, and gives his duets Norwood (the exuberant "Ten Minutes Ago" and the remarkably perceptive "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?")with an immediacy that really reflects the sudden journey from strangers to lovers that is a trademark of the Cinderella story. The step-family - with Broadway diva Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother and Veanne Cox and Natalie Desselle as the stepsisters - manage their comic supporting roles well, with Peters delivering a knockout "Falling in Love With Love", a classic Rodgers and Hart song added to the score for this adaptation. The trio are also superb when that combine with Brandy in the recollection of the ball in "When You're Driving Through the Moonlight" (sadly cut down here) and "A Lovely Night".
There are only two performances that don't really work well in the telefilm. Whitney Housten, as the Godmother, is just in a completely different film that is all about Whitney Housten. Although delivering a pop-vocal in a similar style to Brandy, Housten's performance grates against the score where Brandy's remains bound by the given circumstances of her character. Jason Alexander, in an attempt to characterise a characterless role, falls back on the trick of an accent to do the job for him and then forces the humour, and particularly the physical comedy, to such an extent that he isn't particularly funny.
The direction, by Robert Iscove, keeps things moving along swiftly but is by no means masterful, particularly when one considers the moments that don't quite work - the aforementioned physical comedy from Alexander, for example. The choreography, by Rob Marshall, is a highlight of telefilm and the musical staging and choreography is wonderfully executed - particularly in the ballroom sequence.
Robert L. Freedman's adaptation of Oscar Hammerstein's teleplay (as well as the other adaptations thereof) conceives some fine moments, particularly in the ballroom scene where the dialogue between Cinderella and the Prince is far less sticky while remaining blatantly sentimental. It does miss others, however: for instance, the arc of the Queen's character seems to miss a few beats between her original appearance and the reprise of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?".
The score remains fairly intact. The biggest adaptation to the existing score is the combination of the shameless establishing exposition number "The Prince is Giving a Ball" and the pretty pointless, one-joke, lame duck of a list song, "Your Majesties". This works really well, particularly because the revised number now incorporates (however fleetingly) Cinderella and the step-family, making it somewhat more deserving of it's "stage time".
Of the three additions to the score, "The Sweetest Sounds" probably works the best and forms the basis of a scene that gives the teleplay a lovely symmetry. "Falling In Love With Love" is nothing but a showcase for Bernadette Peters, excused as a number that helps to create sympathy for the Stepmother. But it's never really explored, nor is the need to create sympathy for a character that has a couple of moments where she says some truly detestable things to her stepdaughter. The final addition, for the Godmother, is "There's Music In You" is really just a moment where Housten's pop vocals clash horrendously with the song and its regal orchestral arrangement. This probably would have worked better being sung by a "Hollywood chorus" as the wedding took place on screen.
Overall, I still enjoy this version of Cinderella when I pop it into the DVD player. It's a modest entertainment as most made for TV musicals are. But it has magic. And great songs. And the world always needs more of both.
I find Brandy very compelling in the central role. Yes, she has a contemporary edge to her voice, the appropriateness of which has been debated with fervour on musical theatre boards over the years. But, like everything else in this version, singing in a traditional musical theatre style is by no means a hard and fast rule to be followed. And Brandy delivers where is counts - she creates a character in whom you can believe and for whom you really root.
She is supported by some very able performers. Paolo Montalban is a handsome prince with a pleasant singing voice, and gives his duets Norwood (the exuberant "Ten Minutes Ago" and the remarkably perceptive "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?")with an immediacy that really reflects the sudden journey from strangers to lovers that is a trademark of the Cinderella story. The step-family - with Broadway diva Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother and Veanne Cox and Natalie Desselle as the stepsisters - manage their comic supporting roles well, with Peters delivering a knockout "Falling in Love With Love", a classic Rodgers and Hart song added to the score for this adaptation. The trio are also superb when that combine with Brandy in the recollection of the ball in "When You're Driving Through the Moonlight" (sadly cut down here) and "A Lovely Night".
There are only two performances that don't really work well in the telefilm. Whitney Housten, as the Godmother, is just in a completely different film that is all about Whitney Housten. Although delivering a pop-vocal in a similar style to Brandy, Housten's performance grates against the score where Brandy's remains bound by the given circumstances of her character. Jason Alexander, in an attempt to characterise a characterless role, falls back on the trick of an accent to do the job for him and then forces the humour, and particularly the physical comedy, to such an extent that he isn't particularly funny.
The direction, by Robert Iscove, keeps things moving along swiftly but is by no means masterful, particularly when one considers the moments that don't quite work - the aforementioned physical comedy from Alexander, for example. The choreography, by Rob Marshall, is a highlight of telefilm and the musical staging and choreography is wonderfully executed - particularly in the ballroom sequence.
Robert L. Freedman's adaptation of Oscar Hammerstein's teleplay (as well as the other adaptations thereof) conceives some fine moments, particularly in the ballroom scene where the dialogue between Cinderella and the Prince is far less sticky while remaining blatantly sentimental. It does miss others, however: for instance, the arc of the Queen's character seems to miss a few beats between her original appearance and the reprise of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?".
The score remains fairly intact. The biggest adaptation to the existing score is the combination of the shameless establishing exposition number "The Prince is Giving a Ball" and the pretty pointless, one-joke, lame duck of a list song, "Your Majesties". This works really well, particularly because the revised number now incorporates (however fleetingly) Cinderella and the step-family, making it somewhat more deserving of it's "stage time".
Of the three additions to the score, "The Sweetest Sounds" probably works the best and forms the basis of a scene that gives the teleplay a lovely symmetry. "Falling In Love With Love" is nothing but a showcase for Bernadette Peters, excused as a number that helps to create sympathy for the Stepmother. But it's never really explored, nor is the need to create sympathy for a character that has a couple of moments where she says some truly detestable things to her stepdaughter. The final addition, for the Godmother, is "There's Music In You" is really just a moment where Housten's pop vocals clash horrendously with the song and its regal orchestral arrangement. This probably would have worked better being sung by a "Hollywood chorus" as the wedding took place on screen.
Overall, I still enjoy this version of Cinderella when I pop it into the DVD player. It's a modest entertainment as most made for TV musicals are. But it has magic. And great songs. And the world always needs more of both.