Audiences in the United States will be Bourne again March 28 when director-choreographer Matthew Bourne's adaptation of Cinderella, with music by Sergei Prokofiev, begins performances at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre.

April 7 is the official L.A. opening for the Adventures in Motion Pictures rethinking of the classic ballet-fairy tale, from the same director choreographer who reimagined Swan Lake for London and Broadway.

The L.A. engagement continues to May 23.

Bourne's reconceived Cinderella, set in war-torn 1940s London, had its world premiere in fall 1997 at London's Piccadilly Theatre. In a London being Blitzed by the Germans, a young girl is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters and guided by a guardian angel. Her prince charming end up to be a hero in the Royal Air Force.

Scenic and costume designer Lez Brotherston won an Olivier Award for his work. Lighting design is by Rick Fisher. Brotherston and Fisher also designed Swan Lake. Bourne's hip, homoerotic, modern-day Swan Lake, with strutting male swans, played London and Broadway, closing at New York's Neil Simon Theatre Jan. 23.

On Broadway, Swan Lake was presented by Katharine Dore's British dance company Adventures in Motion Pictures and producer Cameron Mackintosh, but Mackintosh is not involved in the AMP staging of Cinderella in L.A.

There are no plans at this point to bring the Ahmanson-AMP Cinderella to New York City, according to a New York AMP spokesman.

The Cinderella company will include Swan Lake star Adam Cooper plus AMP dancers Scott Ambler, Will Kemp, Isabel Mortimer, Emily Piercy, Ben Wright and a company of 30 dancer-actors.

Tickets are $22.50-$65. For Ahmanson Cinderella ticket information, call (213) 628-2772.

-- By Kenneth Jones