"I walked outside of the theater Sunday night, March 31, 1957, and the streets were absolutely deserted. There were no cars, there were no people.everybody was inside watching the show. It was the largest audience in the history of television at that time." Jon Cypher (Prince Christopher Rupert) in "A Lovely Night: The Making of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella"
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Mention Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella to musical theater devotees and several images are likely to spring to mind. Fans of a certain age will remember the beloved 1960s TV version starring Leslie Ann Warren. Younger viewers are probably familiar with the late 1990s Wonderful World of Disney remake starring Brandy and Whitney Houston. Live theater freaks may have seen the recent tour headlined by The Sopranos' Jamie-Lynn Discala. One that may be familiar mostly as a distant memory, however, is the show's original 1957 TV incarnation starring Julie Andrews. That version garnered huge ratings for CBS, but it was broadcast only once on live TV and never seen again...until now.
In 1955, NBC broadcast a musical version of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. The production (with music by Mark Charlap and Jule Styne and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green) had just ended its Broadway run, and the live broadcast was a stunning success. When a subsequent rebroadcast the following year proved to be just as popular, CBS decided to get on the musical bandwagon. Rather than broadcasting an existing production, network executives decided to commission a new work especially for television. CBS turned to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the legendary writing team who had revolutionized musical theater by creating such timeless classics as Oklahoma!, South Pacific, and The King and I.
Until Rodgers and Hammerstein, most musical theater involved revues - spectacle-driven collections of unrelated musical numbers. With 1943's Oklahoma!, however, the pair transformed the genre into one in which the music, plot, setting, and dance numbers worked in tandem to tell a single story. In essence, the two gave birth to the modern musical, providing it with a form that continues to this day. In 1956, they began work on the Cinderella commissioned by CBS. There were a few hurdles to clear, though. Hammerstein, for example, took a lengthy vacation to Australia to attend the 1956 Olympics. The partners tried to work on the project long distance, but this soon proved to be too difficult. Work continued upon Hammerstein's return, and the show was ready for a spring 1957 broadcast.
For the role of Cinderella, CBS turned to Julie Andrews, who, as the star of My Fair Lady, was the biggest young female Broadway star of the day. The role of Prince Christopher Rupert went to Jon Cypher, a relative unknown who would later star as Chief Fletcher P. Daniels on Hill Street Blues. Broadway vets Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney were cast as his parents, King Maximilian and Queen Maisy. The Ernie Kovacs Show's Edith Adams would play Cinderella's godmother, and musical comedians Kaye Ballard (The Mothers-In-Law) and Alice Ghostley (Designing Women) her crass stepsisters. Ilka Chase, who (among other things) appeared as a panelist on numerous early game shows, rounded out the main cast as Cinderella's stepmother. Altogether, the show featured fifty-six cast members, thirty-three orchestra members, and over eighty behind-the-scenes personnel. Andrews took a week off from My Fair Lady, and the cast prepared for the show's March 31 live broadcast.
Cinderella is filled with the beautiful ballads and comic ditties at which Rodgers and Hammerstein excelled: "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Do I Love You (Because You're Beautiful)," "Ten Minutes Ago," "Stepsisters' Lament." Alternately sweet and witty, comic and urbane, the songs are terrific, as are the performers who sing them. Of course we know that Julie Andrews has a stunning voice, but her costars are equally impressive, from Cypher's deep, rich tones to the inspired comedic characterizations of Ballard and Ghostley.
The most surprising aspect of the production is the humor. From Prince Rupert's incredibly long given name to Cinderella's difficulties with her home's windows ("Cinderella, close the windows!"), Cinderella is awfully funny. Much of the wit comes from the book and lyrics (the palace cook orders forty acres of lettuce for the ball), but director Ralph Nelson and the production's design team also contribute to the laughs. The sight of Queen Maisy wearing a kerchief under her crown while dusting the palace, for example, is an outrageously funny idea.
Cinderella is a perfect mix of humor and heart. In 1957, the production was performed in the Sunday night timeslot normally held by Ed Sullivan. With as many as 120 million viewers, the presentation was the highest rated show in TV history up to that point. It is estimated that to reach that number of viewers in an average Broadway house, the show would have needed to run for 110 years. The show has been reincarnated several times on stage and screen over the years, but this particular production has never been rebroadcast. Since 1957, the only way to experience Julie Andrew's Cinderella has been either through memories or by listening to the cast album which was released the day after the broadcast. Thankfully, however, the show has been taken out of the vaults, and with this DVD release (and a planned rebroadcast on PBS), new fans can discover its joys.
Cinderella's menus are simple and functional. Viewers can play the entire production or jump to specific scenes and songs.
