Review: Aurora’s “Cinderella” delivers fairy-tale joy at just the right moment

Everyone has a Cinderella. Whether it’s the 1950 Disney animated version, 1997’s made-for-TV live action version starring singers Brandy and Whitney Houston or the 2021 Amazon movie musical, the story of a poor girl who gets chosen by prince charming has withstood the test of time.

Ricardo Aponte (In the Heights and On Your Feet!, also at Aurora) is doing double duty as director and choreographer for this production. Aponte is a dancer first, so the choreography shines, especially in the execution of the waltzes at the ball. This is also where his directorial choices are stronger. In the non-dancing scenes, there are a few moments where he could stand to spread out the ensemble onstage a bit more. There’s also some animal puppetry that could use some refining and more embodiment of those animal characteristics.

However, the principal actors more than make up for these matters. India S. Tyree (Song and Dance) makes the role of Cinderella her own. She leans into Ella’s quirky, socially awkward moments and has the audience in the palm of her hand from “In My Own Little Corner” to the end. As usual, her singing voice is perfection. Jackson Hurt hits all the right notes as Prince Topher and seems completely enamored with the girl in the glass slippers.

Perhaps attributable to this being the 2013 updated version, the relationship between Cinderella and her stepsisters, Charlotte (Galen Crawley) and Gabrielle (Candy McLellan), feels a lot less adversarial. In fact, Crawley and McLellan make the stepsisters damn near loveable. Crawley’s performance as the bratty and entitled Charlotte is a standout, especially in the “Stepsister’s Lament.” Her energy and presence are where this musical needs to be the entire time.

Rhyn McLemore shines as Marie, the fairy godmother. As crazy Marie, she adopts a physicality that is typical of the hags in the Brothers Grimm’s stories, but as the godmother, she is playful, graceful and hits every note. Her and Tyree’s stage chemistry in “Impossible” is lovely to watch.

This fairy tale world is enlivened by Kat Conley’s set design, which looks like pages ripped from a storybook. A huge open book with a giant clock emerging from it anchors the stage. Other set pieces look like pop-up book cutouts, such as Cinderella’s house and the palace. The beige and black sketchbook concept is enhanced by Ben Rawson’s dreamy lighting design, awash with blue and purple lights — and of course twinkling stars.

The only design stumbling block in this production are Alan Yeong’s costumes. The townspeople’s garments are a bit over-designed, while Cinderella’s wedding gown is completely under-designed. At one point, Cinderella’s plain dresses are supposed to transform into beautiful ball gowns in front of the audience, but on opening night there were some issues with the snaps and pulls on the dresses, so a bit of the stage magic was lost. The actors also seemed to be struggling to move in some of the gowns due to fit and length. The garments look pretty, but the functionality doesn’t seem to be quite there.

That said, as the first musical at the new Lawrenceville Arts Center, Cinderella is sweet like your favorite candy from beginning to end. As Aurora’s co-founders Anthony Rodriguez and Ann-Carol Pence point out in their program note, with book banning, racial tension and bullying confronting us every day, Cinderella is a reminder that kindness always wins.

And, for anyone looking to be swept off their feet for a couple of hours, this show does it.

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Covid safety policy: Masks optional for vaccinated patrons; unvaccinated patrons strongly encouraged to wear masks.

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Kelundra Smith, an ArtsATL Editor-at-Large, is a critic and arts journalist whose mission is to connect people to cultural experiences and each other. Her work appears in The New York Times, ESPN’s The Undefeated, American Theatre and elsewhere. She is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.