Just starting the second week of a six week run, Cinderella features a fresh, diverse group of actors and dancers with film and theatre credits from around the world, many for whom this is their first Grand Theatre production.

The plot is roughly the same as Disney’s animated version of Cinderella from the 1990s, but has some key differences in many of the scenes, along with, of course, the music (which, frankly, is substantially better in the stage version.)

Cinderella (played by 21 year old Alessia Lupiano) is an orphaned girl taken in by her wickedly vain stepmother (Susan Henley, whom also played in the theatrical and film versions of Hairspray, the latter starring John Travolta) and bumbling, ditzy and just-as-wicked stepsisters (Jenny Hall and Jennifer Stewart). When the King and Queen announce that they’ll be having a ball for their son, Prince Christopher (Kyle Golemba,) to choose a bride from “all the eligible young maidens in the kingdom.” Of course, the young Prince Chris doesn’t think he’ll find true love at the ball, until Cinderella–transformed into a princess after a surprise visit from her fairy godmother–arrives at the ball, upstaging her own ‘family’ and all in attendence, winning the heart of the Prince at the same time. Alas, in her haste to leave before midnight, as per her fairy godmother’s command, a glass shoe is left at the scene, leaving the prince to travel the kingdom in search of its rightful owner, the girl for whom the shoe fits, if you will.

The show was filled with the magic and romance one would expect from a fairy tale love story, with ample comic relief (much of it provided by the Prince’s royal steward and the siblingly banter between Cinderella’s stepsisters.) Beyond that, however, the production showcased a rather impressive array of special effects (not frequently found in the theatre) to better illustrate many of the transformations, most notably the impressive multimedia display that converted a moving pumpkin on stage to a horse-drawn carriage.

The major shortcoming of the production was in the talent. Cinderella’s step-sisters and step-mother looked as though they had a only a few years between them, the three coming across as in their early- to mid-forties. Compared to Cinderella’s late-teens/early-twenties portrayal, the family dynamic was comical, yes, but also highly contrived.

Despite this, Cinderella was a flawless production that ignited a bit of the magic within every member of the audience.