All about Cinderella

Initially, the musical “All About Cinderella” was conceived as a children's play ^[1] , Dmitry Astrakhan was appointed as the director ^[2] . The theater’s artistic director Mikhail Shvydkoy personally asked Raymond Pauls to write music for the production ^[3] . Dmitry Bykov worked on the play, but after several rehearsals the theater refused it ^[4] . By that time, the whole jazz- style score had already been merged with the lyrics, and the theater’s advertising billboards featured the premiere of a musical called Cinderella 18+. In connection with the replacement of the libretto, musical material with the permission of Pauls was given for processing to the SLOT group ^[5] . Its members Sergey Bogolyubsky and Daria Stavrovich completed several compositions. Also, other figures were invited to the project who began to develop the idea of ​​Bykov: from June 2014 Oleg Glushkov became the director and choreographer of the production, set designer - Vadim Volya , costume designer - Olga-Maria Tumakova. This team of creators was inspired by the work of Tim Burton ^[6] .

The presentation of the musical for the press was held on October 15, 2014. It was shown to reporters several issues and told the story of the appearance of the production ^[7] . The world premiere took place at the Musical Theater on October 22 . The main members of the troupe included: Ksenia Larina ( Cinderella ), Denis Kotelnikov ( Lumberjack ), Oksana Kostetskaya ( Krestnaya ), Elena Moiseeva ( Stepmother ), Karina Arbelyani ( Isolda ), Victoria Pivko ( Snezhanna ), Maxim Zausalin ( King ), Andrey Valts ( Forester ), Marat Abdrakhimov ( Mouse King / Jester ) and others.

The production received positive reviews and soon became popular. The characters carried the characters' texts to the people in the form of winged phrases ^[8] . All this made the musical a hit of the fourth theater season of the Musical Theater ^{[9] [10] [11]} . In this regard, the company for the first time in its production releases a soundtrack and other souvenir products ^[12] .

On November 3, 2015, nominees for the National Theater Award “ Golden Mask ” ^[13] were announced. The musical “All About Cinderella” received seven nominations in six categories ^[14] , becoming the winner of one award ^[15] .

Act I

December, 31st. Royal forest. Fir-trees express their desire to be an adornment of the Royal New Year's ball, but only one of them can be awarded the title of “star” and be cut down by the prince himself ( “Winter Forest” ). Their conversation is interrupted by the lumberjack monologue, in which he talks about love and girls who want to marry princes, and not ordinary lumberjacks ( The Aria of the Lumberjack ). Choosing a Christmas tree, the Lumberjack begins to chop it, but the process is interrupted by the unexpected Forester. He calls the Lumberjack a poacher and says that only members of the royal family can cut trees in the Royal Forest. Between the woodcutter and the forester begins a fight. The guy manages to escape, but in the hands of the Forester remains his glove.

At this time, Cinderella is cleaning the house. The mice help her in gratitude that she once saved the Mouse King from a cat. The girl dreams of going to the ball, seeing the prince and dancing with him at least one dance ( Cinderella's Waltz ). He also argues: could a prince fall in love with such a simple girl like her? Mice, more than once in the royal palace, deny such an opportunity. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Cinderella's half-sisters - Snezhanna and Isolde. They ask them to sew a dress for the ball. Cinderella with the help of mice fulfills their request ( "Duet of sisters" ).

Then the stepmother appears with her assistants. Cinderella tells her that she wants to go to the ball, but she did not like the idea ( “Strategy” ). The Forester returns from work. He talks about a meeting with a poacher and shows the family his glove. Cinderella takes her to herself. To save her stepdaughter from thoughts about entertainment, the Stepmother loads her with household chores: count the grain, clean the copper dishes, wash the laundry, wash the floors, remove the snow in the yard. Father tried to persuade his wife to take Cinderella with him, but she only tightened his scarf. The forester agrees with Stepmother to leave his daughter at home. He shares his thoughts with the audience ( “If you believe that everything is fine” ). Seeing that the Forester removed his scarf, the Stepmother yells at him: “Darling, never take off this scarf!”

After the departure of family members, Godmother appears with a pumpkin on a handcart. The girl asks to fulfill her dream: to help her get to the Royal New Year's ball. Godmother refuses. She believes that such an honest and reverent girl at such an event has nothing to do. Krestnaya also refused to meet the New Year with Cinderella, but she gave a couple of life tips ( “My life is a struggle!” ).

Left alone, the girl was about to get down to work, but the mice, it turned out, had already done everything ( “The Anthem of the Mice” ). In addition, they dress Cinderella in her mother’s fixed dress and provide a carriage in which they all go together to the royal ball ( “Fly, my carriage!” ).

Act II

CeremoniesMaster announces the start of the New Year's Royal Ball. He also notifies the public that chairs are now fashionable ( “Welcome to the Ball” ). Guests gather at the ball and begin the fun. The courtiers are dressed up in suits with chairs ( "Ball" ). The King himself appears in the front hall. It seems to him that the ball is boring. He complains about his difficult fate and lost love ( "And I am the king! And what?" ).

Meanwhile, Cinderella and the mice arrive at the ball. The latter retire into the hole, and the girl at the front door meets resistance: without an invitation, the palace guards refuse to let her through. Trying to convince them that she is worthy to attend the ball, Cinderella dances. At this moment, the Lumberjack appears. He really liked her dance. A conversation ensues between the two young people, during which they understand that they are made for each other ( "You are near!" ). Cinderella returns the glove to Lumberjack and he goes to the palace for his father, but leaves the ax.

The royal jester, in his monologue, discusses the guests of the ball ( “The Balloon of the Jester” ), and the King is bored. This is noticed by the stepmother. She strongly suggests marrying the prince to her daughters Snezanne and Isolde. It also recommends declaring war on neighboring kingdoms ( “War” ). The king agrees. A lumberjack appears, declaring his readiness to marry his girlfriend. When it turns out that this girl is a stranger on the porch, and not Snezhann and / or Isolde, the King orders the guards to drive her away. Not wanting to marry unlovingly, the Lumberjack tries to escape, but his stepmother’s assistants detain him. A strange masked ball guest with a pumpkin on a handcart intervenes in the situation. From the third time, the King recognizes in her Anna - the first and only love of his life. She came to the ball with a bomb in a pumpkin to detonate it: thereby taking revenge on the King for dropping her ( “The Clock” ). The true reason for the disagreement of two lovers many years ago becomes known; each person has a crystal shoe in their hands ( “Duet of the King and the Godmother” ). To avoid such a mistake in the life of the woodcutter and his beloved girl, everyone goes for a stranger. Having been abandoned from their previous plans, the Stepmother, Isold, Snezhann and the Forester leave the ball.

The palace guards are trying to comply with the King’s order - to drive Cinderella away ( “Guard” ). They tell Cinderella that the Lumberjack is actually a prince, and he won’t come to her, because, probably, he is already dancing with some other girl at the ball. Cinderella does not believe them, and only providing her with evidence that the Lumberjack is a prince, the girl, upset, goes home. There were already Lesnichiy, Isolde, Snezhann and Stepmother returning from the ball with their assistants. The family finds out that the very lover of the prince was Cinderella. An angry stepmother demands the Forester to send the girl far into the forest, and leave her there. Father, Snezhanna and Isolda defend Cinderella ( “The Exile of Cinderella” ), but she runs away herself. The stepmother sends her husband for her to check that the girl escaped to the forest. Also orders to bring the Lumberjack to visit them.

Lumberjack and Forester independently looking for Cinderella, who was waiting for her beloved at the edge of the woods. The girl’s dreams and hopes collapsed, and the Lumberjack and the Forest Officer, having met, again entered the battle, during which the ill-fated scarf flies from Cinderella’s father ( “Darkness is everywhere” ).

Some time later, Cinderella is found frozen in the forest. The stepmother is blamed for her death. Having received no support from anyone, she escapes from the Kingdom. The lumberjack says goodbye to Cinderella, kissing her on the lips. The moment falls at exactly midnight. Christmas magic brings a girl back to life. Everyone is happy about the happy ending of the story: Cinderella and the Lumberjack get married, Anna marries the King, and Isolde and Snezhann become the jester's wives. In order not to lose the pumpkin bomb, Anna puts it into action ... And they all lived happily ever after, until death did them part ( "Be yourself!" ).

Music

Orchestra

The musical’s orchestra uses twenty instruments: four violins , two cello , two violas , a drum kit , trumpet , clarinet , saxophone , two trombones , two guitars , a bass guitar , three synthesizers (keyboard I, keyboard II, keyboard III). The main conductor is Sergey Inkov , the conductor is Arsenty Tkachenko, the assistant to the conductor is Zhanna Kudryavtseva, the musical director is Tatyana Solnyshkina. Alexander Troitsky, Konstantin Dusenko and Sergey Makeev worked on the orchestration .

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of the musical “All About Cinderella” was released on CD on September 20, 2015 ^[12] , and the digital version on September 25 ^[16] . The issue was produced by the M2BA company. The album includes 15 tracks. Their sound is somewhat different from that presented in the play. This was done in order to acquaint the audience of the musical with the initial idea of ​​the members of the SLOT group, who processed the music of Raymond Pauls and added several songs for the production ^[9] .

(*) - block type rental.

Criticism Reviews

In general, the musical “All About Cinderella” received positive reviews.

Susanna Alperina from Rossiyskaya Gazeta : “What will the children see and hear? The music of Raymond Pauls. For the sake of this, they should be led to a performance to explain who the Maestro is. They will also see a colorful performance with heroes in colorful costumes, designed in a way that is quite familiar to modern children. ” She also noted: “If they gave a prize for the most relevant tale of all time, it would no doubt have gone to Cinderella” ^[17] .

A reviewer from the online newspaper Gazeta.Ru , calling the production “a gop performance” (from the words of the gopniks ), spoke negatively about the libretto, plot, lyrics and music itself: “This musical actually just seems to be ironic over gopot, chanson and other necessary elements of today's life. Because he speaks with the audience precisely in their language, sometimes sounding artificially, and sometimes - as a native. <...> The music of Raymond Pauls does not help either: the elegantly saloon score does not present any catchy melody . ” However, she noted the troupe’s good data: “Actors honestly work: vocal Ksenia Larina in the title role, who feels intonation and can not only sing, but also play Denis Kotelnikov as a prince, instantly changing roles Marat Abdrakhimov and the comic duet Karina Arbeliani - Victoria Pivko in starring sisters ” ^[18] .

Anatoly Weizenfeld, columnist for the Music Box, praised the production. Especially scenography: “Here everything is at a very decent level - specific scenery of specific scenes, their dynamic change, and a modern solution using television panels on the back” ^[19] .

Spectators

The audience of the musical “All About Cinderella” was well received. The audience rating on the Afisha magazine website based on 112 votes is 4.6 out of 5 stars (as of May 3, 2016) ^[20] . Out of 110 reviews, only 9 are negative and neutral, the remaining 101 are positive.

• Cinderella's wig weighs more than two kilograms ^[21] .
• Throughout the performance, Cinderella walks around the stage barefoot. Just before the curtain of the second act, the Lumberjack shoes her in the shoes that were provided to him by the King and Anna (Godmother).
• The plot is set in Moscow . This is evidenced by the map of the Moscow Metro , located at the appropriate place in the train car, on which the Cinderella family gets to the ball. On the way back, instead of a map, the viewer sees the poster of the musical “All About Cinderella”.

• The official website of the musical (Russian)
• The official page of the musical (Russian)
• The musical page on Facebook (rus.)