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Regional Reviews: New Jersey Ever After A Delightful New Musical Cinderella For Adults
As in the Drew Barrymore starring movie, Ever After tells the Cinderella story as a stately piece of historical fiction spoken in modern language and featuring a Cinderella (who hereinafter will be referred to her true name, Danielle) who has the poise, intellect, strength, and self reliance of today's most impressive women. There will be neither fairy godmother nor magical transformations tonight. Ever After is a musical comedy-drama which is witty and laugh out loud funny without being juvenile, and rousingly dramatic in a swashbuckling style without being frantic or overly melodramatic. The setting is 16th century France. Eight-year-old Danielle is awaiting the imminent return home of her father Auguste de Barbarac, a rich farmer and land owner, with his new wife Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, a snooty noblewoman clearly in need of his largesse, and her two young daughters Marguerite and Jacqueline. Within hours, Auguste succumbs to a heart attack, but not before giving Danielle a copy of Thomas More's "Utopia." Flash forward ten years, and we find Danielle subjected to the role of scullery maid and personal servant to Rodmilla and her stepsisters. Prince Henry, heir to the throne of his father, King Francis, runs away from the palace and an arranged marriage to the daughter of the King of Spain. In need of a horse, Prince Henry seeks to "borrow" one from Danielle's stable, but she physically thwarts him. When Danielle sees who he is, she prostrates herself and begs his forgiveness lest he order that she be executed. However, Henry, who is impressed with her spunk, instead gives her a purse full of gold francs. With these coins, Danielle plans to go to the Court to buy the freedom of her late father's old servant Maurice, whom Rodmilla has sold into slavery (she has sold off most of the farm's valuables to finance her and her daughters' extravagance). However, as she is a peasant commoner, Danielle would not be able to do this. So she borrows a classy dress and disguises herself as a courtier. When the slave cargo master treats Danielle roughly, Henry intercedes on her behalf. He does not recognize her as the peasant whom he had previously met, and is impressed by her knowledge of Thomas More and his enlightened political philosophy ("If you suffer your people to be ill educated...then punish them for crimes to which their first education disposed them...you first make thieves and then punish them"). A friendship evolves into a courtship, with Danielle explaining her sudden presence in the court by claiming that she is in town visiting her cousin. After long avoidance of providing the Prince with any names, Danielle succumbs to his blandishments by deceitfully identifying herself as Comtesse Nicole De Lancret, which is her mother's name. In the middle of all of this, King Francis relents and agrees to allow Henry to choose his own bride, but Henry must do so at a ball to be held in five days. Encounters with gypsies, contretemps with Rodmilla and her stepsisters as they attempt to frustrate Danielle and have Marguerite betrothed to Henry, and the intervention of court honoree and friend to the Prince, painter Leonardo da Vinci are also on the boards here. In fact, there is so much more happens that I haven't included—to quote Al Jolson, "You ain't heard nothing yet." Marcy Heisler (book and lyrics) has carried a great deal of the screen story (possibly too much) to the stage musical. Most happily, nearly all of the delicious humor of the screenplay remains intact, and it is funnier than ever in its musical stage context as delivered by this strong cast. The only bit missing from the screen story that might be restored is Auguste's response to Rodmilla and Danielle as he is dying, as it adds extra dimension to the script. Nothing had provided me for the scope, integration, and melodiousness of the score by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich (music). There is nothing startling or innovative in the music other than that it is the high caliber, rich, expansive American Songbook style score that "they" don't write anymore. By my count, there are twenty-six separate songs or musical compositions here (I'm counting as one distinctly different melodies that are blended into one another), and several reprises. These include processionals and a hymn that reminded me of Richard Rodgers' work with Oscar Hammerstein. Some of the soaring ballads and lilting melodies brought to mind the finest work of Lerner and Lowe. I'm talking style and quality, not tune detection. The title song sung by Fred Inkley (Auguste) to and with Young Danielle (Isabella Jolene Burke) is a lovely ballad that recurs as a reprise and orchestrally. "Right Before My Eyes," sung by James Snyder (Henry) to Danielle, is a soaring, gorgeous showstopper. Margo Seibert (Danielle) and Tony Sheldon (Leonardo da Vinci) deliver the beautifully moving and inspirational plot advancing "What Should I Tell Him?" Christine Ebersole (Rodmilla) and Margo Seibert (Danielle) sing the powerful and painful, superbly theatrical "It's Done," in which they lament their painful years living together (Danielle: "Was it ever real?/ Was it ever true?/ Was there not a moment where you might have loved me, too? Rodmilla: How can anybody love a pebble in their shoe? Danielle: What an awful waste/ What an awful shame/ Needing you and knowing/ You will never feel the same/ Call me Cinderella/ Or by any other name...). If memory serves, the "pebble in their shoe" reference is from dialogue in the movie, and its inclusion in "It's Done" is a brilliant piece of writing. This last lyric demonstrates that Ever After is not a kiddie show by any stretch of the imagination. It is an adult musical that is suitable and valuable for children. Margo Seibert nicely conveys the free spirited likeably and determination of Danielle. James Snyder conveys the cluelessness and immaturity as well as his casual maturation that Henry achieves from his appreciation of the more mature Danielle. Both sing strongly and relate well to one another. Christine Ebersole is stylishly, slyly subversive in the role of Rodmilla. Ebersole maximizes the humorous grotesqueness of Rodmilla without sacrificing the emotional impact of her cruelty to Danielle. Her singing is as strong and effective as we would expect. Tony Sheldon has a star stage presence. For much of this show, he is underutilized. However, when da Vinci is brought into the fray on behalf of Danielle, Sheldon becomes an electric presence. There are many strong performances in featured roles here. Julie Halston has personality and comic presence to spare as Queen Marie. Mara Davi and Annie Funke as the comically rapacious Marguerite and the bouncy, sympathetic Jacqueline, respectively, are each delightful. There are several lively and entertaining dance numbers which include a gypsy's dance and a couple of dances for the members of the court which range from the stately, classical variety to high stepping contemporary theatre choreography. The strong melodies accompanying these dances are enhanced by the entertaining and clever orchestrations of Bruce Coughlin. The singing and dancing ensemble performing the charming and robust "Tribute to da Vinci" is another musical highlight. The second act of Ever After is pure delight as it soars from highlight to highlight on the wings of its excellent score and delightful storytelling. It is engrossing, stirring, and entertaining from start to finish. However, despite the presence of excellent music and a good story, the first act fails to come to vibrant life. Why is there a large gap between the acts? In part, the answer may lie in the scenic design (Derek McLane) and lighting (Peter Kaczorowski) and its employment by Kathleen Marshall. There is a very deep and high rear stage wall at the back on which are projected slides of paintings which recreate the look of the movie. However, the lights illuminating the stage are dimly lit. The projections are rather faint. At stage left and at stage right, there is an open, wooden structure of stairs, platforms and arches. The vast, open space is enervating and pulls focus from the performers and their environment. Viewing it, I could not understand why all the "good stuff" that I was watching failed to produce any spark. The second act appears to be more brightly lit and the scenes appear to be staged within a tighter frame and considerably further upstage. Here, choreographer-director Kathleen Marshall's work is exemplary. Ever After is far too good to miss. Ever After continues performances continues performances (Evenings: Wednesday - Sunday 7 pm/ Matinees: Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 1:30 pm) through June 21, 2015, at the Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ 07041. Box Office: 973-376-4343; online: www.papermill.org. Ever After Book and Lyrics by Marcy Heisler; Music by Zina Goldrich; directed by Kathleen Marshall Cast
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