Cendrillon (Cinderella)

The tale has been told for over a thousand years in virtually every part of the globe, but it is always interesting to see what each storyteller and culture adds. In Central City Opera's current production, the story of Cendrillon (Cinderella) is taken from the Charles Perrault version that, thankfully, provides a number of wrinkles absent from the popular but one-dimensional Disney animated feature.

Leah Wool as Cinderella (Cendrillon) Photo: Photo by Mark Kiryluk

In the first scene, Pandolfe, Cinderella's father, questions his second marriage to the mean, self-centered Countess, Madame de la Haltière, providing funny and pointed commentary on wedlock. Rich-toned bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi balances Pandolfe's ineffectual husbandry with compassionate fatherhood to summon the sympathy required to lend credence to the storyline. Maria Zifchak's Countess' haughty low couture and comical coloratura embody a worthy antagonistic challenge to the forces of goodness.

As we've seen previously in the cartoon and the ballet, the step-mother and step sisters in the opera are hyperbolized for comic effect: mama's a pompous battle axe, and the girls garish and whiney—one spindly with spectacles; the other with an eye-patch. Erin Snell and Sarah Kleeman cut it up as the clueless coddled siblings in search of a royal bloodline, whose looks cannot be salvaged by a bevy of flamboyant makeover artists.

Leah Wool as Cinderella (Cendrillon) and Heather Buck as the Fairy Godmother Photo: Photo by Mark Kiryluk

Forget the pumpkin and the carriage and the mice. Our Cinderella's fairy godmother knows a thing or two about entrances: Think Busby Berkeley and Maxville Parrish. With a soprano to die for, Heather Buck floats down from the heavens atop a crescent moon to cast a magic spell, summoning her sprites to dress Cinderella in other-worldly fineries. Nice work here by the six members of the Colorado Children's Chorale. David Martin Jacques lighting on Sara Jean Tosetti's gown make a goddess of the fairy godmother.

Vale Rideout as Prince Charming and Leah Wool as Cinderella (Cendrillon) Photo: Photo by Mark Kiryluk

Cinderella and her dress are enough to stop the prince dead in his tracks. It helps that she's the only one not wearing black and white in Caleb Wertenbaker's stylish slate palace reception hall. As Prince Charming, tenor Vale Rideout sings passionately of his sorrow at not having found the right girl and the love that he holds in his heart for his ideal. All this changes when he sees Cinderella: the hall clears, and the two lovers-at-first-sight get to have a few moments of transcendent bliss.

Leah Wool, as Cinderella, is the coup de grâce in this thoughtful staging. Her warm and expressive mezzo soprano takes hold from her first act aria, in which she describes her woeful life as a servant in her father's house, and transports us with each succeeding aria—meeting her Fairy Godmother; dancing with her Prince Charming; commiserating with her father; contemplating exile and death; and reuniting with the Prince in spirit—until, finally, coming together in the flesh.

Vale Rideout as Prince Charming and Leah Wool as Cinderella (Cendrillon) Photo: Photo by Mark Kiryluk

All's well that ends well: Cinderella's father is redeemed; the king is happy that his son is happy; and, in a final comedic gesture, the stepmother expresses her fondness for Cinderella. John Baril leads the festival orchestra in resonant harmony with Jules Massenet's lovely romantic melodies. Members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program prove a strong and lusty ensemble.

Central City Opera's production of Cendrillon runs in repertory with Guiseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleeker Street, through August 19th. 303-292-6700, 1-800-851-8175, or www.CentralCityOpera.org.

Bob Bows