Unfortunately, Bad Cinderella is just not any good. It's hard to believe this is from the pen of the brilliant and acclaimed Andrew Lloyd Webber. The songs are immediately forgettable, and the plot is stodgy and depressing. There's a whiff of & Juliet, but none of the playfulness.
What it does have is beautiful costumes, and women with superb voices. The rich crimson and gold, the sumptuous green, all dazzle. Carolee Carmello is, as always, gorgeous, a great actress with a magnificent voice. Here, as Cinderella's nasty Stepmother, we can almost feel sorry for her. Saddled with three brats, her own and her stepdaughter, she seems always on the edge of a major migraine. Her verbal tennis match with Grace McLean, as the Queen, is a high point of the show. The last female artist to dazzle is Cristina Acosta Robinson, a Godmother who's powerful enough to cast any spell, and take revenge whenever it suits her.
To me, the most disturbing note is struck by the chorus fellows known as "the hunks." This homoerotic theme to the show is wildly inappropriate. Yes, we've heard in the opening number that all that counts in this deeply shallow town is beauty, but the buff and semi-buff work-out fanatics here are jarring in this reworking of a fairy tale, and quite possibly offensive to hairless men everywhere. We see that their bullying of the hapless Sebastian, played whole heartedly by Jordan Dobson, is more sadistic than playful.
It's a joy to see a Hispanic woman in the lead as Cinderella, and Linedy Genao carries on nobly in a role that is written exceedingly heavy handedly. The center of the show is presented as more of a villain than as spirited, lonely girl. There should be a playful spark with her dear friend Sebastian; we need to see some chemistry between them.
It's hard to understand why with Andrew Lloyd Webber, front and center, and the talented cast involved, this show is so dismal. We want to be entertained, not hit over the head with the weight of this anti-fairy tale. And for heaven's sake, give us at least one tune we can hum on our way out of the theater.
