Steampunk Cinderella Sticks to the Story

The shoe fits!

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. When her father remarries all seems well, but when he dies, the cruel stepmother pushes forward her two daughters and Cinderella becomes their servant. Enter prince, fairy godmother, ball, wedding, and happily ever after.

This favorite story was put to music in 1957 in a fine Rogers & Hammerstein version written for television. This beautiful production and music are still performed today. Last night, I saw a Steampunk version that reliably delivered the tale--with a very different look and feel.

Steampunk originated in the 1980s and 1990s, incorporating elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history and speculative fiction. Just think of a steam-powered computer. Lots of dials and watch gears. You see a lot of it at Comic-Con. What it means, on the set, is that folks were dressed in jackets, boots, goggles, strange hair and odd colors -- nothing you'd expect. Cinderella's costume was very plain and simple, but when it was transformed (surprisingly instantly) for the ball, Steampunk was forgotten and gorgeous and blue appeared before our eyes. Artistic Director/Costume Designer Andrea Gorham did a sensational job.

This is community theatre, but it is very well arranged and performed. Several actors stand out. Of course, Cinderella herself, the slim and beautiful Catherine Willamson, was able to move from the poor and put-down house servant to belle of the ball with ease. She is given solo songs, such as In My Own Little Corner, her lament early in the production, and she sings along with Prince Christopher, played by Matt Ono, later on. The ensemble singing was especially strong, and Williamson's sweet and powerful voice carries over everyone.

Prince and Cinderella falling in love.

Another remarkable role was the very non-traditional Fairy Godmother, sung by the stunning Kristina Stasi. Tall and dramatic in her Steampunk regalia, she strutted the stage after making her grand entrance from the top of the gear-laden stage. Part of the non-traditional feel here was how she didn't just wave a wand and set up Cinderella for the ball--she told Cinderella that wishing wasn't enough--it's what you did with it that mattered! It was all about empowerment. Then she waved her arms, lights flashed, and an incredible pumpkin coach rolled in, stage right (great work, stage designers!).

This is a romantic story, but there was plenty of comedy, thanks to Cinderella's mean stepmother and her two pathetic daughters. Stepmother, played in a Cruella De Vil style by Ali Lane, had some funny asides and she was wondrously jaguar-like in her hanging on poor Lionel, the Prince's steward.

Lionel, played by veteran Kevin Foley, had the pivotal support role of announcing the Prince's ball at the beginning, counseling the Prince throughout, avoiding Stepmom during the ball, and helping the Prince find the true princess by carrying the glass slipper (not real glass in this production, of course). Foley did a great job as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Curtain Call production of A Christmas Carol last December.

Those clumsy and unpretty stepsisters made the audience laugh. Diminutive, squirrely Joy (Alice Beittel) was rubber limbed and wooden headed, giggling hysterically and flopping down like a rag doll. Her sister, Grace (Kate Offer), resembled a linebacker and charged up on the poor prince like a force of nature. The three step-women's attempts to place Cinderella's shoe on their oversized feet were hilarious, and set up the scene nicely for the dramatic moment when the shoe fits perfectly on Cinderella.

Stepsisters Grace and Joy had the audience laughing.

The staging stayed mostly with the main layout with its gears and 19th-century colors and angles, but there were times when the action moved offstage. For example, the prince, spotlighted, actually attempted to fit the glass slipper to a few women in the audience before visiting Cinderella.

The music was fine and appropriate throughout. I noticed there was no room for an upright bassist to stand in the pit, and that an electric one was provided (intentionally) by Music and Vocal Director Jedediah Da Roza. Da Roza took the Steampunk motif seriously. Replacing the bass was just one of the things he did. He changed which instruments played the parts, including adding keyboards, electric guitar and harpsichord. However, he left all the original and beloved Richard Rogers notes intact except for one spot. He ended "In My Little Corner" in a minor instead of a major key.

The ensemble dancers moved in a mechanical, Steampunk way at times, and when the mood required it, flowed gracefully. If this were a movie, I'd flip back and watch it again, because so much was happening at once and the richness of the costumes was somewhat dazzling to take it all in in one pass.

Curtain Call Performing Arts has brought Broadway style theater to the greater San Francisco Bay Area for four years.Their Gift of Broadway program has provided nearly 8,000 local K-8 grade school children with the chance to see live theater free.

The show runs through August 31st, with matinees on August 25 and 26. All shows will be performed at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts at the Castro Valley High School Campus on Redwood Road. Visit curtaincallperformingarts.org or call the box office at 510-889-8961 for more information.

A Christmas Carol - 3 Performances in One Day

In my quest for the full bass playing experience, I achieved another milestone yesterday. I played for three performances of the 90-minute musical A Christmas Carol --in one day.

The first two shows were at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., for schoolkids. You could hear the high pitched din as they came in and sat and waited for us to start. Of course, in the pit you can't see anything in the building, but we knew we had a full house. We got some visitors peering over the wall, and we did our best to make it an interesting introduction to musical instruments, showing off what they looked and sounded like. From the sound of the applause and cheering at the end, the kids had a great time.

Andrea Gorham, who owns Curtain Call Performing Arts, the company that put the program together, talked with the kids, telling them it was her dream to expose kids to theater. Her outreach program to schoolkids has shown live theater to about 5,000 kids so far. The local girl, who attended the school in which the performances were taking place, thanked two of her former teachers, who were in the audience with their students.

The evening show was for grown-ups. You could tell by how quiet it was. But--there was plenty of applause when we were done--and we had some visitors peeking in too.

The three performances all went well from a musical standpoint. Each time, I played a little better and more completely. Passages that I had just glossed over came into focus and I beat out the rhythm with confidence. It helped to have a fine bunch of fellow player in the pit with me, and a leader like Jon Siapno, who has years of experience in choral conducting, but was working with his first instrumental group.

Two more shows--one tonight and a matinee tomorrow, and then we wrap. Eight performances in two weeks. But so far, no blisters, and my sore feet recover quickly as soon as I sit down for a few minutes.

I'll have to see about doing this again next year. I'm thinking perhaps the Nutcracker!

Report from the Orchestra Pit

Last night was the final tech rehearsal for A Christmas Carol, and we took it very slowly. With all the stops, starts, changes and tweaks, we ran past midnight. Tonight, we will have an audience and I hope we're all ready for them.

It was my first experience in an orchestra pit. And that's truly what it is--a stage-wide slice of area invisible to most of the audience where the musicians crowd together and play. I was tucked next to the entry stairs with just enough width to move a bow. Even then, I frequently knocked its tip into the stair's railing. That's not as bad as my poor compadre who put the first dent in his gorgeous bass saxophone when the stand it was in decided to collapse. But he went on, like a pro. The photo here is not our orchestra or theater, but it shows the same view from the corner that I have.

The odd thing is, we're right in front of, and under, the actors, but we can't see what they're doing. We watch our conductor and guide attentively--he can see the stage--but it's an act of faith. In the theatre, you're constantly stopping and starting and changing the tempo to match the action above--that you can't see. But when it's going well, it sounds great, and that's what kept me moving along last night.

A Christmas Carol - My First Musical

Last night marked another rehearsal on the way to performing in my first musical theater production. It went well --three hours of work with the ensemble. I'll do a dress rehearsal on Thursday night and then, Friday is opening night!

It's a little different doing musicals, because you're not the main attraction, like you are in an orchestral concert. Actually, we'll be in the "pit," hidden from view, playing when it suits the actors/singers above us. I'm guessing that my 8th performance will be better than the first one.

As usual, I'm the only bass player, but we have a nice selection of other instruments, including a piano, a horn section, violins, flute and even a bass saxophone. The drummer arrived tonight, and he, a hirsute and mature 17-year-old, played directly behind me--and he was right on the beat. We talked music a little bit, too; it's fun to share something with someone who's less than a third of your age. The years melted away when we discussed our musical passion.

A Christmas Carol plays December 16, 17, 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. and December 18 and 24 at a 2 p.m. matinee. It's the same great story you know about Mr. Scrooge learning the spirit of Christmas by seeing the past, present and future. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, feel free to order tickets here.

Our leader is Jon Siapno, an energetic young man who has a light touch while keeping us moving. He's also a high school teacher, and I'll bet his class is the fun one of the day. It's been great working with him so far, and when we're all playing in the pit these next couple weeks I'm sure we'll get to know him even better. I'll bet there will be more opportunities like this one.

A year ago I got my upright and electric basses tattooed on my arm. Along with making that kind of commitment, I now end the year with a CD and some gigs with my band, another successful year of orchestra concerts, several chamber music workshop weekends, a freelance gig at a church, and now this opportunity. It's wonderful.

The new year will start out with the CD Release Party for Red Paint on Saturday, January 21 at the High Street Station in Alameda, California. You should come.

Music and Comedy - Two Shows in One Day

I got to watch two ladies in my life perform yesterday. One was my nearly three-year-old granddaughter, who made her stage debut in a production of Alice in Wonderland as a singing flower. Always a free spirit, she left the stage for a while, but returned to complete the number with a flourish.

The company featured some entertaining performances by older children and some teenagers, who kept the story and music flowing. I hadn't seen children's theatre in as long as I could remember, so it was a little nostalgic and the unevennesses were just part of the experience.

Any time spent with a grandchild is a treat. She had her parents and two of her three sets of grandparents there to witness it, so it was a real family event, too.

After this, my wife and I headed back to our neighborhood and took in a comedy show at the Englander in San Leandro that included my very funny friend Barbara Garber. She has been generating laughs since I met her many years ago, and has a way of taking her experiences and transforming them into hilarity. Her own laugh is funny in itself and helps set the mood.

Barbara has been working seriously on spending more time onstage--which I encourage for anyone who has been around awhile and wants to pursue their passion. I think she has what it takes to really make something of this.

As for my granddaughter, there's no way to know if she will develop an interest in musical theatre, but she has made the first step.