In the exceptionally beautiful kingdom of Belleville, the fields are idyllic, the prince is charming, and the townsfolk are ravishing. Only one stubborn peasant stands in the way of absolute perfection: Cinderella. To the flawless residents and royals of Belleville, this damsel IS the distress. She finds herself and her prince in new circumstances, which causes them to rethink what "happily ever after" really means. From composer Andrew Lloyd Webber comes bad Cinderella, featuring an original story and book by Emerald Fennell and lyrics by David Zippel.
To clear up the obvious question, “Bad Cinderella,” which opened at the Imperial Theater Thursday night, isn’t good. Composed by Webber and with lyrics by David Zippel, it is a muddled and momentum-less retooling of the familiar fairy tale in search of a coherent point of view as if it were a glass-slippered foot. The book, originally written by Emerald Fennell, the Oscar winning screenwriter of “Promising Young Woman,” and adapted for Broadway by the playwright Alexis Scheer, is an illogical head-scratcher, despite being based on a story most everyone knows. “Bad Cinderella,” directed here by Laurence Connor (“School of Rock”), even manages to gleefully reinforce the chronic social fixations — on beauty, vanity and wealth — that it purports to deem toxic.
That’s because 'Bad Cinderella' is not the clever, high-spirited revamp you might have expected, casting contemporary fairy dust on the classic story of love and slippers. It has none of the grit of the Grimm tale, the sweetness of the Disney movie or the grace (let alone the melodic delight) of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Instead, it’s surprisingly vulgar, sexed-up and dumbed-down: a parade of hustling women in bustiers and shirtless pec-rippling hunks.
Digital Rush
Price: $30
Where: rush.telecharge.com.
When: The Bad Cinderella digital rush will begin at 11:00am the day of each performance. More tickets may become available throughout the day. Rush will end 30 minutes before curtain.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Determined at the discretion of the box office. Subject to availability.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $30
Where: rush.telecharge.com.
When: Entries for the Bad Cinderella digital lottery start at 12:00am, one day before the performance and end the same day at 3:00pm. Winners are drawn at 10:00am and 3:00pm. Winners will have five hours to complete their purchase.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Tickets are subject to availability.
2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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