Notes from the director
A story called Yeh-hsien, from AD 850 by Twan Ch'eng-shih, is the first version of Cinderella we know. In that story, Yeh-hsien is helped by a fish and wears shoes of gold -- and the stepmother and stepsister are killed by flying stones (yes, you read that correctly!). Nearly every culture has Cinderella-type stories that focus on a worthy heroine who is mistreated by a stepmother and stepsister(s) and receives help from a benevolent force (nature/animals, a departed relative, a godmother, an angel, etc.). In all of the Cinderella stories, the Cinderella figure captures the heart of a ruler and marries him at the end. Different versions of the tale may or may not include certains aspects we now take for granted: it was Charles Perrault, in 1697, who first wrote of the glass slipper that has now become iconic. Perrault is also responsible for the godmother and the pumpkin carriage. In the Brothers Grimm 19th-century version, Cinderella's deceased mother helps her through a magic tree and the animals that come to her aid throughout the story. Unlike the Grimm brothers, who include horrible punishments for the stepsisters, Perrault observes that Cinderella welcomes the two stepsisters into the palace and arranges advantageous marriages for them.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Enchanted version) is much more of a Perrault fairy tale than a Brothers Grimm one. Yet the version retains the idea of the tree as a symbolic replacement for Cinderella's mother, suggesting that loved ones are always present in some way. The dove, too, evokes the idea that the forces of goodness intervene on behalf of those who are deserving. Finally, Cinderella intervenes for herself by the end of the musical, since our own individual action is also necessary when we want to change our lives.
While some have criticized fairy tales for promoting beauty as the pathway to fortune and sucess, it's worth noting that beauty in fairy tales isn't generally a surperficial quality, but rather a reflection of a character's inner goodness and virtue. Cinderella is beautiful because, at the ball, she is dressed in a way that reflects her inner nobility and grace -- and these are what dazzle the prince. Cinderella should not be interpreted as a rags-to-riches story, one in which she "makes it" by becoming rich; rather, it's a story about how kindness is a type of strength that is ultimately recognized and valued.
Einstein famously said "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Creativity and wonder help children develop their minds and prepare them for more complex thought later on. Just as important, perhaps, is the observation from fairy tale scholar Maria Warner that "fairy tales offer hope of release from poverty, maltreatment, and subjection" (xxii)*. As such, fairy tales are radical in their insistence on happy endings: we are invited to see the world as it can be, a world in which "impossible things are happening every day" (Hammerstein II). The impossible, of course, happens through magic -- which is nothing if not a metaphor for the forces that bring about hope and joy and that make up for a world that often falls short of fairness and opportunity.
I invite you to accompany Cinderella on her journey and to experience the magic for yourself. I hope that, like Cinderella, you experience a "lovely, lovely night!".
Patricia Marchesi
*Warner, Marina. Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale, Oxford University Press, 2014.
