Just before “Cinderella” debuted in 1997, the mainstream vehicles published disenchanted reviews by their critics. “Cinderella’s crystal slippers are too big for Brandy to fill,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. “To be honest, the girl cannot act.” Variety described Whitney Houston’s fairy godmother as “a scary caricature, sure to send the kids running to mommy’s lap”. AND the New York Times called “A ‘Cinderella’ patched for the moment, not for the times.”
More than two decades later, as the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein makes its streaming debut on Friday at Disney +, it is clear that “Cinderella” – which attracted around 60 million viewers in its initial exhibition, sold 1 million units of home entertainment in the first week and was voted the most profitable TV movie of its time – was so much for your moment as for the ages. In fact, the creatives behind the current Hollywood music-cinema boom could learn a thing or two from their smart spin in a classic text.
Brandy Norwood stars in the multicultural fairy tale in an unprecedented plot of centuries, with previous live action treatments led by Mary Pickford in 1914, Julie Andrews in 1957 and Lesley Ann Warren in 1965. As well as “Carmen Jones” and “The Wiz ”Made with the opera“ Carmen ”and the film“ The Wizard of Oz ”, respectively,“ Cinderella ”takes a well-known (and usually white) story and puts actors of color at the forefront, something that only a few studios have released musical films – like “Bride and Prejudice” from 2004, “Annie” from 2014 and, arguably, “Cats” from 2019 – have tried since.
From this admittedly limited field, “Cinderella” remains the best example of a colorblind cast for a screen musical to this day, and the film still offers a useful model for potential successors: not only the company, including background actors, collectively reflects our world, but the main ones are also carefully selected to suit their functions, regardless of appearance. It doesn’t matter that Cinderella’s foster sisters don’t look alike; Veanne Cox and Natalie Desselle Reid offer the best ample humor in the film, playing each other, as well as any experienced comedy duo.
In addition to her groundbreaking status as Disney’s first black princess, Norwood’s underrated performance is quietly fascinating in itself, with a subtle yet effervescent sweetness that captures the classic Inherently Good protagonist. Thanks to her indifferent delivery of the most proactive lines in Robert Freedman’s new book, she highlights the repositioning of the heroine in this version of a young woman passively waiting to be rescued for someone who takes control of her destiny. Furthermore, his chemistry with the handsome prince, played by Broadway actor Paolo Montalban, is absolutely magical.
Brandy Norwood became Disney’s first black princess in “Cinderella”.
(Disney +)
The combination of Norwood, a relatively newcomer to the musical film, with Montalban, a more experienced hand, points to another lesson to be learned from “Cinderella”: more productions should take risks in new faces instead of signing the same handful of Hollywood names – James Corden, Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick, for example – for yet another leading role. Instead, “Cinderella” focuses on Norwood, with support from well-known actors with theater experience: Whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber as the king and queen, Jason Alexander as the palace attendant and Bernadette Peters as Cinderella’s stepmother. This supporting cast anchors production in theatrical musicality, instead of pulling the viewer out of the narrative with famous people who can’t sing (a Pierce Brosnan from “Mamma Mia!” And Alec Baldwin from “Rock of Ages”).
“Cinderella”, thanks to the permissions of the composer’s estate, also presents the kind of flexibility with the original text that no successful reform can dispense with. Like Shondaland’s oral history of the film notes, for example, “The prince is giving a ball” was expanded – by Fred Ebb, no less – to give Alexander, at that point, an Emmy nominee for “Seinfeld”, a slapstick show. “Falling in Love With Love”, taken from Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s lesser-known show “The Boys From Syracuse”, fills Peters’ vile matriarch while showing his comedic sensibilities and Tony-winning vocals. And, of course, superstar Houston gets an incredible solo on “There Music In You” to close the show.
These songs – along with the hopeful opening number “The Sweetest Sounds”, relocated from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “No Strings” – were added to the screen, a common practice of musical adaptations, but none seems strange; in fact, they have become a canon of “Cinderella”. However, the film is still less than 90 minutes long, thanks to its lean and efficient script: the cruelty of Peters’ stepmother and the magnificence of the fairy godmother of Houston are communicated with only a few verses spread out, leaving plenty of time for the part Goldberg’s recurrent and speechless words. More musical films could cut out skippable songs and unnecessary dialogues to channel the acute impulse of the stage, instead of trying to reproduce it exactly.
The diverse cast of “Cinderella”, from left: Jason Alexander, Paolo Montalban, Brandy Norwood, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters, Natalie Desselle Reid and Veanne Cox.
(Disney +)
Ultimately, by embracing its history, its cast, its genre and its medium – but never taking itself too seriously – “Cinderella”, directed by director Robert Iscove, unleashes its true magic: its perfectly calibrated tone. In essence, the musical form calls for a suspension of disbelief so that the audience can follow the fantastic concept of singing their own feelings and dancing the same routine with a crowd. These moments can be mistreated in musical films obsessed with realism, like “A Chorus Line” from 1985, with its footwork-free cinematography, and “Les Misérables” 2012, with its relentless close-ups. If you don’t like to tell musical stories, it’s better to watch another adaptation of “Cinderella” – like “Ever After” from 1998, “A Cinderella Story” from 2004 or “Cinderella” from 2015 – first.
This version is for those who like the theatricality of a musical film, the splendor of a fairy tale and the escapism of a romance and, admittedly, delight in the fun of it all. There is the humor of Rob Marshall’s choreography, as full of personality and narrative impulse as any exchange of dialogue; the make-believe of Randy Ser’s high production design; and the vivid fascination of Ellen Mirojnick’s costumes. That intention is most evocative during “10 Minutes Behind”, when the camera spins around and around Cinderella and the Prince as they fall in love in the ballroom. (Altogether, it compensates for the film’s visual effects, the only element that is unfortunately of its moment.)
Hollywood’s renewed love for the musical film – including Sony’s vision for “Cinderella,” due out in July – has the potential to pay artistic and financial dividends to the film and theater industries. And as “Cinderella” proves, the form develops more based on the belief that has made her legacy so long: that “impossible things”, as Norwood and Houston sing, “are happening every day.”