A Phoenix from the Cinders

Rodgers and Hammerstein are responsible for such masterpieces as the Sound of Music and The King and I.  I grew up on these classics and the music...ah the music is the stuff of my sweetest dreams and wildest fancies. I am a classically trained musician, specifically a vocalist and was trained from "toddlerhood." My memories are primarily musical and the cause of this may be anything from my synaesthesia to that training. This training gives me a proverbial microscope through which I can view the magic of good music--but the experience of it is always a physical--almost visceral--experience for all involved, trained or not. Such was my response to stumbling upon (the internet was totally uninvolved) Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

Who doesn't love a little Julie Andrews?

The made for TV 1997 version.

Whitney!!!

 I know. Stay with me. You know me to be pretty critical of...well everything. I'm not exactly Rush Limbaugh on Democrats critical...but I'm not a lightweight either. To this you will concede I'm sure, but a made for TV musical, you might ask? Really? Those of you who have seen the film...err... musical, might be even more confused. I own to it: the Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella 1997 musical for TV is not exactly The Dark Knight. As a film, it is far from a beatific masterpiece. But as an idea...ah. As an idea propelled by music magic this film musical--whatever it is rises from the cinders, incandescent.

JK? Not even a little bit

The first thing one will notice with Cinderella is the multi-cultural cast. Cinderella is black, played by Brandy to be exact, her stepmother is white, the lovely Bernadette Peters and she has two step sisters: one white, one black. Sometimes it borders ridiculousness; we have a hunky Asian prince (Paolo Montalban), but his mother and father? Whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber respectively. In this modern age there are plenty of explanative options: adoption, infidelity--but seeing as the target audience is probably prepubescent...and the family in question is royal, those options are probably a little tricky to explain. Regardless, it is the multi-cultural aspect that I love. Even the chorus is diverse; the townspeople, the court--Cinderella is more than a token nod at the hope of racial integration and equality. And I personally hope that our films and musicals will learn to follow it's example. Today, when African-Americans are relegated to comedic relief or axe fodder, Hispanics to Mexican gardeners, Asians to sexual objects or charming kung-fu nerds and Native Americans to werewolves if they appear at all, I have a hard time seeing movies as the stuff of dreams or an adequate escapist medium; perhaps for those who are not relegated to narrow and often offensive stereotypes, but not for me. Shouldn't our media represent the future we want, rather than a troubling present we are trying to move past?

Also in it's favor is the scintillating musical score, but I suppose that goes without saying. Visit Youtube to get a taste of Cinderella's wonderful music.
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This will be re-posted in my "Let's Go to the Movies" section.