This modern day princess knows what she likes, and it’s definitely comfort over couture.
“There’s no high-heeled glass slipper,” Director Allison Cherry said. “It was funny when we said that because the young lady playing Ella was excited she didn’t have to pretend that that was a comfortable costume piece. We got her some sparkly kicks instead of an uncomfortable high-heeled glass slipper. That’s even a line, ‘a glass slipper, Seriously? Who can actually wear that?'”
In the Children’s Theatre of Elgin production of “Ella … A Modern Cinderella Story,” this Cinderella is definitely a 21st century version.
The original musical, written by Cherry, runs April 8-10 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. April 8-9 and 2 p.m. April 9-10. The April 8 and 2 p.m. April 9 shows will be performed with Spanish supertitles. Audience members must show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test less than 72 hours old, and masks are required of all patrons.
The show features a cast of about 100 area youth ages 7 to 14. By writing an original version of the fairy tale classic, Children’s Theatre of Elgin can provide more speaking roles than the Disney or other “Cinderella” scripts offer, Cherry said.
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“The Broadway shows don’t allow for as many speaking roles,” she said. “Even if there’s a big ensemble, sometimes there’s only five parts that speak.”
The story of Ella remains similar, with a few changes and updates.
“Ella is a modern day Cinderella who has a rough family and she kind of feels unlucky in life and unlucky in love,” Cherry said. “And she has this really great teacher that’s encouraging her to find happiness.”
Soon Ella is transferred to Fairy Tale Land and a lot of the characters she has in her reality are those characters in “Cinderella.” Her teacher actually is her Fairy Godmother and the children she takes care of in her job at day care are the mice.
“She gets transported into this outdated fairy tale where there’s a lot of things that she talks about that she doesn’t believe in. A lot of strong, feministic values are shown. Like why are you just waiting around for a Prince Charming?” Cherry said.
“You need to be strong and independent and do things for yourself. So it shows that side. But then it also shows the side of ‘even though those things are true and ‘I’m so happy our world has come to that,’ it doesn’t mean that having this love is a bad thing or is a weakness. You can still find that and be happy and be strong.”
Pop music from the last several decades helps tell the story of what Ella experiences and learns in the Fairy Tale Land.
Songs like “Shake Your Groove Thing” by Peaches and Herb, “Classic” by MKTO, and “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé, along with music from Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Blondie and more.
“It’s not all from one genre or one decade. The show kind of pulls from all over the place,” she said.
Asked what the students think of Ella’s more modern views, Cherry said they love it.
“It’s a whole new generation of kiddos and they’re definitely a generation where girls and boys think ‘yes, this is the way it should be,'” Cherry said. “Maybe the younger girls don’t notice it as much but the older girls do. And those younger kids look up to the older kids so much.”
So when it came to writing the part of the script where a glass slipper is traditionally worn by Cinderella, Cherry made the conscious choice to have Ella wear a shoe that she would want to wear.
“The Cinderella character is such a strong female role, we got to that part, and I’m like ‘any strong female role would be a glass? A glass slipper? Are you kidding?’ And so I wrote it right in there and I think she says something along the lines to the Fairy Godmother like ‘you’re a woman. Do better,” she said.
“It’s not your typical glass slipper and that’s because it reflects the Cinderella of the story. Not that the Cinderella of the Disney movie isn’t strong. I do think she is a strong character. But just trying to reset some of those mindsets of waiting for someone. Because that’s every old Disney movie. Every single one is being rescued by someone. It’s neat to kind of see the current ones aren’t like that, which is nice. I just wanted to reflect where we are in the world today.”
‘Ella … A Modern Cinderella Story’
When: April 8-10
Where: Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin
Tickets: $14 adults; $12 seniors and students
Information: 847-214-7152; cteelgin.com
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
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