[NEohioPAL] Review of "Ella Enchanted" at Dobama Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Dobama’s ‘Ella Enchanted’ brims with bibbidi-bobbidi-boo



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal



There are hundreds of variations of the romantic fairy tale “Cinderella,” the story of a girl who is mistreated by her stepmother, saved by her fairy godmother and lived happily ever after with a prince.  



Well, 345 variations in Europe alone and from predominantly male authors, if you trust a 19th century anthology that traced the story’s lineage from the work of Charles Perrault in 1697 to that of the Grimm Brothers in 1812.  Add to the mix the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Walt Disney and so many other modern Americans. 



In 1997, the story was given a make-over aimed at pre-teenage girls by novelist Gail Carson Levine.  Her “Ella Enchanted” inspired a 2004 live-action film of the same name that, in turn, inspired Karen Zacarías and Deborah Wicks La Puma to pen a new mediocre musical version that is being given an absolutely amazing staging by Dobama Theatre.  



For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/
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