Audience Has Role in Play

Prince Charming may have lost the mysterious maiden who left her slipper at the ball, but children attending Glendale Centre Theatre’s production of “Cinderella” on Saturday will be sure to help him find her. Because audience participation is encouraged in this version of the popular fairy tale, youngsters are invited to sing along as well as help the characters.

It’s not quite the same sentimental favorite most people know. The essentials are there as Charles Perrault set them down in 1629, right down to the Fairy Godmother and the pumpkin coach. But this production emphasizes comedy with a modern point of view. It’s based on two scripts, one by Robert Neil Porter and the other by Charlotte Baird. Director Chris Wheeler combined the scripts to get the best of both.

“The setting is generally in the Medieval fairy tale world,” Wheeler said--a world that has no time, but with costumes from just about every era up to the Colonial. It’s also a world in which the characters perform rap songs with the more expected ballads. “There’s some adult things that go over the kids’ heads,” Wheeler said, in particular some jokes from visiting princesses out to win the hand of the handsome prince.

Parents, take note: If you have a birthday child with you, notify the box office as you buy your ticket for a special surprise. The play starts at 11 a.m. Saturday through Nov. 14. Admission is $7, with children under 12 admitted for $5. People 86 and older are admitted free. The Glendale Centre Theatre is at 324 N. Orange St.