The ERHS Theatre Department presented Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s Cinderella on November 16, 17 and 18.

“I liked when the prince proposed and someone from the crowd said, “Oh yeah,” and half of the cast broke character,” senior Ema Smith, who watched the play on the 18th, recalled lightheartedly.

I watched the play on the 18th too, and I liked it a lot more when the characters maintained integrity – which, thankfully, was the majority of the time. In particular, I liked watching Bryana Rowley’s emphatic impersonation of Madame: her flamboyant gestures, blatantly nasally voice, haughty attitude. Combine that with the amazing costume design, and I don’t think the role could’ve been cast better. I also appreciated Charlotte’s unforgiving cheekiness, which was my main source of comedy – not to say that there were no other funny characters, just that my sense of humor and the snarky quips Charlotte never failed to deliver mixed well.

Of course, there was Ella, whom Alyssa Stanford performed outstandingly. Her musical numbers were perhaps my favorite aspect of the entire show. My favorite moment of the show was also one of Stanford’s – when she raised her arms above her head and twirled her ragged dress into a gown. The air was magical. Major kudos to the team behind the scenes; I’m still trying to figure out how it happened.

My only criticism of the play is of its abridgments from the original Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s Cinderella; for instance, instead of losing her glass slipper as she ran, Ella purposely left it behind for the prince to retrieve. The scene felt quite awkward to me, but the actors did their best with it. My praise goes to all of them, and the cast list is below as follows:

• Alyssa Stanford as Ella
• Bryana Rowley as Madame
• Alexis Hayes as Marie
• Claudia Carter as Gabrielle
• Reyhana Badarani as Charlotte
• Reggie Anderson, Jr. as Topher
• Kainoa Sittman as Sebastian
• Daniel Shabu as Jean-Michel
• Bolu Ogunneye as Pinkleton