Seeing through the Glass Slipper

Even in today’s post-#MeToo/women’s movement era, just about every little girl in America still dreams about being a princess. Witness the number of Cinderella dresses out on the streets and trick-or-treaters just three weeks ago on Halloween. On the other hand, not too many harbor a desire to wind up as a wicked stepsister, but for Utah-raised actress Joanna Johnson, getting cast as Charlotte in the Broadway musical version of Cinderella is almost like having her own personal Fairy Godmother granting her wish.

“Absolutely,” she said with a laugh over the phone earlier this week. “I grew up in a very small town in rural Utah. So, just the fact that I live in New York at all, let alone sing and act for a living, is pretty crazy. But I’ve wanted to do this my whole life, be an actress on Broadway. A touring show is just a step away.”

The Santa Barbara debut of the 2013 update to Rodgers + Hammerstein’s classic Cinderella – which launches the 2019-20 season of Broadway musicals at the Granada Theatre with performances on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 20-21 – offers a fresh take on the tale of a beleaguered young woman who is transformed from a chambermaid into a princess, turning the kind maiden in distress into a curious and spirited young woman aware of injustices beyond her own situation. Indeed, the glass slipper fitting her foot is just a single step toward transforming the prince too, as he prepares to takeover and transform the post-feminist kingdom. There are new characters and scenarios, lots of humor, and even “new music,” actually others songs from the Rodgers + Hammerstein catalog adapted to the story, Johnson said.

“But all of the familiar elements are there,” Johnson said. “She lives with her stepmother and sisters, and she has a rough life. There’s the Fairy Godmother, the glass slipper, and the pumpkin that turns into a carriage. People bring their daughters dressed up like princesses, who love that stuff. But in this version, a big part of the story is that Ella is not just a girl trying to find a husband, wear a pretty dress, and go to a ball. She’s brave and smart and wants to make the world a better place. It’s complex enough to appeal to the grandparents too.”

Men also are finding a home in Cinderella, Johnson said. “Working toward goals is a genderless idea, and the prince’s story arc – he’s fresh out of college and he’s going to be king, but he doesn’t know who he is yet – that’s a struggle young men can really identify with. How to be a leader, whether it’s in a fictional community or just your own domain, applies to everyone.”

The updated elements resulted in mixed reviews on Broadway, with The New York Times suggesting that “This Cinderella wants to be reassuringly old-fashioned and refreshingly irreverent, sentimental and snarky, sincere and ironic, all at once.” But Johnson – who has played Charlotte for more than two years, recently logging her 500th performance – said that the story lines were tightened up for the road. “It’s lost some weight, trimmed and slimmed down, and is more on track. But it is a delicate balancing act, a challenge for us to walk that line between modern and the classic. I love Broadway musicals where you show up and get whisked away and leave all happy and warm, singing the numbers on your way home. But this has some substance. We want people to be thinking while they’re humming.”