The colourful and lively musical with a catchy soundtrack follows a curvier and cruder modern-day punk Latina Cinderella. Unfazed by the shallow fashion trends of her town, she fearlessly expresses her identity and shares her thought-provoking views, even in a community fixated on superficial appearances, status and influence.
To the flawless residents and royals of Belleville, this damsel IS the distress.
The brilliant play on Cinderalla redefines femininity by separating her worth from her relationship with a man and by refusing the imposed societal feminine expectations of beauty advocating for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Gender Equality.
The rebellious Cinderella, who always has a prank up her sleeve and the fearful Prince Sebastian, have been partners in crime since childhood. They’ve always gone against the grain, making fun of his royal roots while she took on the roles of her house’s mistreated cleaner and cook.
But coming up on the Prince Charming’s almost year-long disappearance, Prince Sebastian is set to be crowned as Belleville’s new king. His mother, the queen, sets off to find him the perfect wife and get him married over the weekend by throwing him a ball. The town’s belles go from disliking everything about Sebastian being king to worshiping the very ground he stands on.
As the attention gets to Prince Sebastian’s head, Cinderella, becoming conscious of her feelings for her best friend, asks a meaner version of the fairy godmother Cinderella fans know and love for a makeover that will last the night. The fairy godmother accepts, in exchange for Cinderella’s most prized possession and the only thing she has left from her parents: her cherished necklace. Blinded by her feelings, Cinderella ignores the fairy’s warnings about the price of beauty and goes forward with the transformation.
Disguised behind her makeover, Prince Sebastian, tired of the superficial attention, seeks out Cinderella and in so doing, accidentally ignores her. As per the queen’s rules, Prince Sebastian is to be paired with the woman he kisses by midnight. One of Cinderella’s step sisters, following her mother’s wishes of chasing a royal title, weasels her way in by planting one on him.
Cinderella, along with the unsuccessful stepsister sulk around. That is until the latter pushes her to crash the wedding to get back at her cruel mother, who’s deemed her sister the favourite. By the time Cinderella makes it, having run by foot, the wedding is over. What she doesn’t realize is that Prince Charming came back with his own prince and Sebastian was let off the hook.
Through this plot twist, this show ties into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Reduced Inequalities. It does so in the following way. Though initially stunned, the queen and the people of Belleville allow the men an equal chance at love as they would their heterosexual counterparts. Given the quick judgment they otherwise hold towards Cinderella and Sebastian, this development leads the town a step closer to equity, at least when it comes to love.
Hurt, Cinderella packs her things and runs away, accidentally leaving a glass slipper behind, which Sebastian finds as she comes back for it. He also gives her her necklace back, which he got from the godmother on his search for her. They reconcile as both friends and new romantics.
The town celebrates their two new handsome kings as the stepmother is humiliated and her daughters find new love interests on the dance floor. Cinderella and her stepsisters ultimately get to choose their romantic partners regardless of the stepmother’s royalty-fueled aspirations.
As for the talented BIPOC actors redefining Broadway through their dynamic principal roles, the force behind Cinderella, Linedy Genao is previously known for her roles in the In the Heights film, and in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and On Your Feet. Sebastian is played by Jordan Dobson, who has performed in A Beautiful Noise, Hadestown and West Side Story. Cameron Loyal is making his Broadway debut as Prince Charming and the Godmother, played by Christina Acosta Robinson, previously performed in Summer: the Donna Summer Musical.
The creative team behind the musical is just as diverse and talented, led by director Laurence Connor, written by Emerald Fennell, adapted by Alexis Scheer with music by Andrew Lloy Webber and lyrics by David Zippel.