Cinderella: After the ball

EV Culture

Did the shoe fit?:

Cinderella Recap written by: Sammy Binning ast month, Liberty North High School’s 3 day run of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella came to a close. Full of magic, romance, humor, dancing, and a little bit of political satire, Cinderella was an amazing production. Many of the actors and actresses thought the show went really well. “I think [the musical] went really well. I feel like the energy the cast has was really infectious and I feel like the audience could feel it. Everyone in the crew and cast worked together,” Senior Simon Whitsitt said. Cinderella was an ensemble and tech-heavy show. With dance numbers like The Prince is Giving a Ball, the ensemble was never bored. The show had many technical elements such as transforming dresses, a giant, puppets, and more. “I think it went pretty good. I was kind of nervous in the last few weeks for how it was going to turn out, but in the end, it came together and I’m really proud of everyone,” Freshman Alayna Pickard said. Pickard and Whitsitt were part of the ballroom scene where Cinderella and Prince Topher dance together. All around them, masquerade dancers dance in pairs. The ladies wore beautiful ballgowns with hoop skirts and the gentlemen wore detailed suits. “It was a little bit scary because we didn’t get our ballroom costumes until the week of the show. I think it really went well with the costumes once we adapted and changed things. I think the dancing looked really good,” Pickard said. The ballroom dance scene contained complicated moves such as lifts, which were complicated by the added hoop skirts. “I think it went really well. I think we were consistently improving every night. We made sure we were always running it, always polishing it, always perfecting it. It really turned out well. The type of dancing we had to do was different than any type of dancing we’ve done before. We usually don’t do dances with partners, and we especially don’t do slow-ish dances. That presented some challenges,” Whitsitt said. Not only were Whitsitt and Pickard both in the ballroom scene, but they were both understudies for principle roles. Whitsitt was the understudy for Prince Topher and Pickard was the understudy for Gabrielle, one of the stepsisters. “The uncertainty that an understudy role brings can bring about some confusion and stress because you don’t know what’s going to happen on any given night. I could’ve had to go on at any given time, so I needed to make sure I was prepared. It was a really good learning experience for sure,” Whitsitt said. The understudies worked very hard, and despite not performing for an understudies show, their hard work paid off in experience. “I think it was a really cool opportunity to get to show the directors what I could do. I really enjoyed learning the part and getting the chance to have the experience of performing a role,” Pickard said. Gabrielle was played by Freshman Madison Tucker. Gabrielle is one of Cinderella’s stepsisters. She is a comedic character with an affination with the color pink. “I really enjoyed my character and getting to interact with people on stage. I liked being able to build those character relationships. I loved playing a comedic character because you can do so much with it. Making people laugh is really fun,” Tucker said. The cast and crew of Cinderella put in a lot of effort for the show and grew together because of it. “I feel like the bond that everyone involved in the production had really allowed the show to be as good as it could be and the fact that we all liked each other and really worked well together off stage really translated into the show,” Whitsitt said. l graphic by: Braden Clapper

photo by: Ashton Overby Past group dances have been seen as a challenge for some. This years ballroom dance held new challenges in some dancers eyes, “I think it really went well with the costumes once we adapted and changed things. I think the dancing looked really good,” Pickard said.