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</div><div style="text-align:center" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2985" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2986">Re-inventing a Beautiful Dreamer</b></div>
<div style="text-align:center" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2987" align="center">By Tom Wachunas</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2988"> </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2989"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2990"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2991"> </span>“How many times do you read about 'the
Cinderella story,' the story of the underdog, the story of the ordinary human
being, often subjected to cruelty and ignorance and neglect, who somehow
triumphs?”</b><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2992"> </span>- Kenneth Branagh</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2993"> </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2994"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2995"> </span>How many times
indeed. After only a few minutes of research, I was sufficiently reminded of
the long history behind the tale that we in the West know as Cinderella. If
there are any readers out there not familiar with it, I pray for you. In any
case, the roots of this iconic narrative - which is essentially about how a
downtrodden heroine triumphs over her oppressors - date as far back as a Greek
story from around 7 BCE. I think it fair to say that despite centuries of
literary and theatrical adaptations and revisions (not to mention cinematic
variants), from across many eras and cultures, it continues to be something
more than an escapist fairy tale. You could call it an allegory of the human
condition, if for no other reason than it seems that we, under myriad names and
circumstances, are still defining and searching for our “happily ever after.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2996"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2997"> </span>So enter yet
another adaptation. This brand new one delivers a refreshingly modernized and
relevant message without succumbing to saccharine preachiness. Loosely based on
The Brothers Grimm version, it’s written by Beth Knox, Managing Director of
Canton’s Players Guild Theatre, and premiering now in the Guild’s intimate
arena theater. Not surprisingly, the production features a superbly talented
13-member cast, directed here by Michael Lawrence Akers and Jonathan Tisevich. </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2998"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_2999"> </span>Raucous chaos
ensues whenever Ella’s mean-spirited stepsisters and<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3000"> </span>stepmother are present.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3001"> </span>Kassandra Frazier, as Esmeralda, and Sarah
Marie Young, as Prudence, have several show-stopping scenes, none more
hilarious than when they clumsily attempt to take instruction from their
flustered mother (Madame Arrington, played by Daryl Robinson) on how to waltz.
Frazier’s<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3002"> </span>unruly Esmeralda often speaks
while chomping on the biscuits and rolls she routinely pulls from her bodice,
making the many insults she hurls at Ella (including naming her<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3003"> Cinder-</i>ella) all the more…cheeky.
Young’s air-headed, whiny Prudence is something of a sonic phenomenon.
Complementing her expressive if not cartoonish facial contortions is a speaking
voice shrill and piercing enough to peel wallpaper. Like, eeewwwww… Meanwhile,
Daryl Robinson deftly turns the manipulative, haughty, and frenetic Madame
Arrington into an effectively chilling portrait of vapid pomp and strident
greed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3004"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3005"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3006"> </span>Talk about passing
on family values to the next generation… In that regard, Ella, played by
Desirée Hargrave, is anything but self-serving or deceitful. Hargrave invests
her character with palpable tenderness tempered with unflappable resolve to
make the best of the bad circumstances engineered by her feckless and
dysfunctional family. It’s that disarming tenderness and determination that
grabs both the attentions of the Fairy Godmother – a truly giddy spirit
delivered with lovable swagger by Elyse Ramirez – as well as the introspective
heart of the prince, Alexander, played by Drake Harbert. To that role, Harbert
brings authentic warmth and gentleness. It’s a trait that seems to run in the
Royal family, as Corey Paulus, in his role of King, plays his part too with
equal credibility. </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3007"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3008"> </span>Here is a
Cinderella with a true servant’s heart, evident in the brief but endearing
scenes when she so freely shares her passion for books and the wisdom they can
impart by teaching some local children, here named Catherine and Nicholas, how
to read.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3009"> </span>In those roles, both Rylee
Horning and Noah Tisevich make a delightful picture of youthful, effervescent
eagerness to imagine life as a fulfilling adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3010"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3011"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3012"> </span>In the end, this
new adaptation tweaks or deletes many of the extraneous incidentals of the
familiar (and frankly all too sappy) Disneyesque narrative we’re accustomed to.
Instead, we’re given a compelling scenario of a selfless and courageous
dreamer. Not the numbed victim of life’s cruel and unexpected vicissitudes,
singing a doleful someday-my-prince-will-come dirge, she pours her gifts into
others. Walk a mile in her shoes, and the world could well live all the more
happily.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3013"> <br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3028"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3013"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3014"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3015"> </span>Players Guild
Theatre presents <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3016">Cinderella – A New
Adaptation</i>, in the William G. Frye Theater, 1001 Market Avenue N., Canton,
Ohio / FRIDAY at 7:00 p.m, SATURDAY and SUNDAY at 2 p.m., THROUGH FEB. 5, 2017
/ TICKETS: $17 adults, $13<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3017"> </span>for ages 17
and younger, available at<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3018">
</span>www.playersguildtheatre.com<span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3019"> </span>or call
330-452-7617</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3020"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3021"> </span>For other
commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in the greater
Canton area, please visit his blog, ARTWACH, at <a href="http://www.artwach.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3022">www.artwach.blogspot.com</a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1485255067394_3023"> </span></div>
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