The Title Says It All

BY ROBERT MASSIMI

Not since “Starlight Express” has Andrew Lloyd Webber written such a lackluster musical. The songs you hear throughout the musical “Bad Cinderella” at The Imperial Theatre go in one ear and out the other and are long forgotten even before the final curtain drops. Emerald Fennell’s book is nothing to really get excited about either. The premise here is that we visit a town called Belleville where only the beautiful people live; Cinderella is considered bad because she is seen as ugly, and because she spray painted on Prince Charming’s statue “beauty sucks.” Wow. Deep!

The whole show is a confusing piece of garble, flavored with outrageously garish costumes (Gabriela Tylesova). Tylesova does a great job, however, with the scenic design. Director Laurence Connor reaches for the campy, the cheap laughs and clearly panders to the diverse audience members. Based on gay themes as well as a clear message that we only look toward the outside rather than the inherent good in people, “Bad Cinderella” has too weak of a plot to be taken as good theater and any message it tries to serve is lost in the confusion.

featuring paintings, photography, sculptures and mixed media installations by artists in the advertising industry. The show included artworks by 135 contemporary artists on the 22 screens of the Oculus. mvvoart.com

Gabriela Gil

Cinderella (Linedy Genao) is for the most part good; she has a nice singing voice, delivers the “business” nicely and can dance. In the lead role, however, she is not a big enough talent to deliver like many of today’s stars on Broadway can. The same holds true for Prince Sebastian (Jordon Dobson). Dobson cannot deliver the way a star should, he is too one-dimensional and at times, flat. While Carolee Carmello as the Stepmother and Grace McLean as the Queen are very good, the rest of the cast for the most part goes through the motions where the acting is concerned.

Artist Gabriela Gil connects elements of the immediate present through the use of line, color and rhythm. This combination in her painting reflects an admiration for both nature’s softness and the human instinct to connect.

Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Gil has moved throughout South and North America her entire life. The constant migration has shaped her multicultural perspective and nurtured her interest in art as a way to transcribe her personal experience using a unique visual language. Her studio is based in New York. She will hold her first solo art exhibit showcasing her work on December 3. gabrielagil.com

Bruno Poet’s lighting is nicely done to complement the story, particularly the musical part of the show. JoAnn M. Hunter’s choreography ranges between decent and ridiculous. At one point in the show, the audience has to watch a Chippendale version of dancers doing push-ups and lifting weights shirtless and in leather pants.

Domenico Vacca

Luxury men’s and women’s fashion designer Domenico Vacca has reopened his flagship store on Madison Avenue. Born in Italy, Vacca‘s family has been deeply-rooted in the craft of fashion for decades. In 2002, Vacca launched his own label and opened his flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York, spearheading the sartorial trend in fashion. domenicovacca.com

“Bad Cinderella” holds to the basic story of the sisters, the mean stepmother and the ball dropping at midnight. Only here the sisters are beyond annoying, Adele (Sami Gayle) has such a nasal voice that she is hard to hear, and her sister Marie (Morgan Higgins) has a hairstyle similar to Lady Gaga and uses all the cutesy phrases that don’t add up to anything meaningful, nor funny. If all of this is not distracting enough, the constant turnstile staging left most of the audience with vertigo by the show’s end.