Cindy Bella at Shakespeare & Company
Perfectly Ridiculous Holiday Fun to Dec. 20
By: Charles Giuliano - Dec 12, 2009
By Irina Brooks and Anna Brownsted
Directed by Irina Brook; Sets and Props, Ralph T. Randle; Lighting, John Elder; Sound, Michael Pfeiffer; Stage manager, Molly Hennighausen.
Cast: Heather Fisch (Angelina/ Cindy), Dana Harrison (Clorinda), David Joseph (Dandini), Benjamin Luxon (Don Magnifico), Caley Milliken (Tisbe), Scott Renzoni (Don Ramiro), Renee Margaret Speltz (Alidora).
Shakespeare & Company
Lenox, Mass.
Through December 20
On a bitterly cold winter night, Shakespeare & Company, warmed hearts and tickled funny bones with a silly bit of Holiday wackiness Cindy Bella (or the Glass Slipper). This fun for the whole family production, based on the fairy tale Cinderella, concocted and tarted up by Irinia Brooks and Anna Brownsted, will run absolutely absurdly through December 20.
Take the kids even though it will be past their bedtime. We doubt that it will make them fall asleep dreaming of Sugar Plum Fairies. This is, my dears, hardly The Nutckracker. It is more like theatre of the absurd played totally over the top for laughs. Lots of them.
Part of the outrageous merriment is seeing how that oh so familiar romantic tale gets anything but a Disney treatment.
This may be lost on the toddlers but it didn't stop the few in attendance from shouting at the actors, laughing and cavorting at all the right moments. To the delight of the audience while parents frantically tried to hush their kids.
At first we were very serious. We had come for an evening of theatre. Serious stuff you know. Then there was the first nervous titter. I looked over at Astrid and she gave me an expression along the lines of what the heck is this? But after the second and third outbursts, as the actors madly and outrageously overacted with farcical physical comedy, the audience, just gave up and utterly surrendered to the nonsense on stage. After that we just laughed our way through a perfectly ridiculous evening.
It started actually with Tina Packer bounding on stage to inform us with comic timing that she is the Former artistic director. On this evening subbing for the Current artistic director, Tony Simotes, who was over in the Bernstein Theatre introducing two nights of Shakespeare's Pericles.
"Can you believe it" she said. "Here we are in the middle of the winter with two shows going on simultaneously." Hurray for that. Bravo. Then she added regarding the financial crisis that "We're not out of the woods yet but we are close to finishing the final $2 million of our $10 million capital campaign and that will make a big difference." You gottah love Tina. During intermission we welcomed her home after a tour of shows in Boston and back home in England. She also visited Virginia where a performance is in the works.
Back to the show last night. It is a deconstructed sendup. In this version Heather Finch (Cindy) who also answers to Angelina is the abused servant of her wicked step sisters Tisbe (Caley Milliken) and Dana Harrison (Clorinda). Their father is a pathetic old drunk Benjamin Luxon (Don Magnifico) who now and then bursts into opera. He has spent Cindy's inheritance on the lavish shopping of his other daughters and to run a saloon that is on its last legs.
Their hope of salvation is that one of the daughters will marry the Prince (Scott Renzoni) as guests at his ball. But the Prince, in pursuit of true love, has canvassed the town incognito as the alleged servant of an imposter prince Dandini (David Joseph). The wannabe Prince is tricked out in a outfit that hovers between Elvis and Liberace. Of course, the step sisters are all over him like a cheap suit, or is that suitors? While the nerdy Cindy, who sings melancholy tunes accompanying herself on accordion, has taken a shine to the Prince, disguised as a humble servant. There is also a Fairy in there Renee Margaret Speitz (Alidora) for a bit of magic and glitz
It is a S&Co mandate that its actors must multi task. Typically, we discovered the Prince doubling as the intermission bar tender. Do try the Holiday cookies at a dollar.
This farcical production involved bathos and physical comedy. The actors were running all over the theater including through rows of delighted visitors. The kids were just thrilled with this. The Evil Sisters threw themselves all over the stage. Mopping it up in, of all things, sequined ball gowns. They made themselves out shamelessly as ugly hags while in real life they are surely very nice and attractive women.
I feared for Benjamin Luxon who is on in years. The directing had him standing on tables and running about. On several occasions we noted him trying to catch a breath. No point sending actors to the emergency room.
There were a lot of nice touches on the familiar plot points. Like the key moment when Cindy looses her slipper at the midnight hour. That twist got a hearty laugh from the audience. We loved the mayhem when the Evil Sisters take turns trying to put on the slipper. Which, fits perfectly nicely on the dainty foot of Cindy.
Of course, they lived happily ever after. As we slipped out into a frigid night and drove home anticipating tucking into comfy beds to dream of plum pudding and fruit cake. Yo, ho, ho.