This spring the Captains Playhouse performed “Cinderella,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic directed by Nathan McGraw, with evening performances on April 26 through 28 and a matinee on Sunday. Tickets were $12 with student tickets discounted to $10.
“I also chose Cinderella because it’s a classic fairytale and I felt like it could be more engaging with the community, especially younger crowds,” McGraw said.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ll are known for writing many renowned musicals from the 50’s and 60’s such as “Oklahoma.” They made an adaptation of Cinderella in the 1950’s and changes were made to the script over the years so that it could appeal to a modern audience. The updated version Loudoun County is performing is from 2013, which is the most modern and recent edition of the script.
“The script chosen for it is also really funny,” McGraw added.
Playing the lead (Cinderella) in the show is Junior Frey Williams. Williams has been doing LCHS theater since freshman year but started theater in elementary school. McGraw chose Williams for the role because “they gave off an innocent quality for Cinderella and captured the sweet and compassionate part very well.”
Williams says, “I chose to be in theater because it gives me a lot of freedom to express myself through my character. It’s also a great community of people that I love spending time with during rehearsals.”
An opportunity to meet these talented actors presented itself before the matinee, when observers had the chance to meet the lead characters Ella and the Prince and drink tea with them.
Not only is the casting important to entrap the emotion, but the set can be a major part of theater when it comes to backgrounds, props, costumes to make the magic come to life, especially in a fairytale. This play is very costume heavy and technical when it comes to the set, ranging from painted trees to colorful gowns the crew delivered. In fact, the dress made for the transformation was kindly borrowed from another studio since it was such a daunting task.
“I’m most excited for an audience to see Cinderella rags transform into a dress,” McGraw said. “I really want people to believe that you can turn a pumpkin into a carriage and Cinderella rags can change into a dress, so making it magical is really important.”
“I was most excited to spend time with my castmates and have a lot of fun together on stage. Although we all have our own roles, we’re still all part of one big ensemble, collaborating together to tell the story,” Williams said.
This past fall the Captains Playhouse put on a show called “the 12 Angry Jurors” which is very different from the spring musical, both in content and style. This time around, there are way more large lavish sets to move around and magic to bring alive.
“It was amazing to see and hear the show finally come to life after the months we spent preparing it,” Williams said.
