Broadway-Aimed Cinderella Begins NYC Workshop Aug. 2 With Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Victoria Clark

By Adam Hetrick
02 Aug 2012

Laura Osnes
Laura Osnes
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

The new Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana, tries on its glass slipper in a private workshop beginning Aug. 2 in New York City.

Mark Brokaw (The Lyons, Cry-Baby) directs the Aug. 2-3 workshops, which have choreography by Josh Rhodes, with music adaptation, supervision and arrangements by David Chase. Cinderella is aiming for a Broadway opening in 2013. Dates of production, complete casting and a Broadway theatre have yet to be announced.

The new incarnation of the musical features a book by Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, Lysistrata Jones, The Little Dog Laughed). His treatment recharts the journey of the classic tale in a new way. Retaining all classic elements of the fairytale, it will now be Cinderella's turn to rescue the Prince.

Osnes (Bonnie & Clyde, South Pacific) and Fontana (Billy Elliot, Importance of Being Earnest) co-star as Cinderella and the Prince, respectively.

The workshop cast also features Tony Award winner Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie) as Cinderella's Stepmother, Madame; with Tony winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Sister Act) as the Fairy Godmother, Marie; Peter Bartlett (A Free Man of Color, The Frogs) as Sebastian, the Prime Minister; Ann Harada (Avenue Q, "Smash") as stepsister Charlotte; Marla Mindelle (Sister Act) as stepsister Gabrielle; Greg Hildreth (Peter and the Starcatcher) as the rebel Jean-Michel; and John Treacy Egan (Sister Act) as Town Crier.

Robyn Goodman, the Tony-winning producer of Avenue Q, In the Heights and the 2008 revival of West Side Story, Stephen Kocis and Jill Furman in association with Center Theatre Group produce Cinderella.

The new production incorporates songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalogue, as well as songs from the original television version, including "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible/It's Possible," "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"