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'' Rodgers And Hammerstein 's Cinderella'' is the name of a Musical written for Television by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II based upon the Fairy Tale , Cinderella . ''Cinderella'' was originally written for a live television musical broadcast in 1957, as a vehicle for Julie Andrews , who played the title role. Its popularity caused the creators to adapt the work for the stage, and it was subsequently remade for television twice, in 1965 and 1997, starring Lesley Ann Warren and Brandy , respectively, in the title role. List of songs This list is from the original 1957 version; the 1965 and 1997 versions each added one or more songs from other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals.
TELEVISION ADAPTATIONS 1957 version The 1957 version was directed by Ralph Nelson and starred Julie Andrews as Cinderella. It also starred Howard Lindsay (The King), Dorothy Stickney (The Queen), Edie Adams (Fairy Godmother), Kaye Ballard (Step Sister), Alice Ghostley (Step Sister), Ilka Chase (Stepmother), Jon Cypher (The Prince), and Iggie Wolfington (The Steward). This version appeared as a U.S. live broadcast (except on the West Coast ) on March 31 , 1957 . It was written specifically for CBS television, enticed (as Rodgers wrote in his autobiography) by the opportunity to write for Andrews. It also included a 28-piece orchestra, 20 dancers, and seven ensemble singers. It was produced for $376,000 (very expensive for its time) and was heavily promoted by its sponsors, Pepsi-Cola and the Shulton Company (then maker of Old Spice ). The promotion and an appearance by Rodgers And Hammerstein on '' The Ed Sullivan Show '' the week before helped to give the telecast a reported audience of 107 million people, the largest achieved by that time (and more than Any Subsequent Television Series Episode As Of 2004 ). It was televised in color, and the entire cast and orchestra made a separate mono and stereo recording of the music for Columbia Records, which was later issued on CD by Sony. A '' New York Times '' review by Jack Gould on April 7, 1957 characterized it as "a pleasant Cinderella that lacked the magic touch." He said that the broadcast received an "extraordinary range of reactions; it was either unreservedly enjoyed, rather angrily rejected or generally approved, subject to significant reservations." He praised Andrews as a "beguiling vision" in "lovely color video." But he complained about the book ("What possessed Mr. Hammerstein to turn the stepsisters into distasteful vaudeville clowns?"); about errors in "the most elementary kind of showmanship;" about costume ("couldn't Cinderella have been dressed in a dreamlike ball gown of fantasy rather than a chic, form-fitting number?"); about the songs ("not top-drawer Rodgers and Hammerstein"); and the staging ("cramped... excellent depth, but limited width marred the ballroom scene.") He judged the songs "reminiscent and derivative of some of their earlier successes" but praised four of them and said "In television, where original music is virtually nonexistent, these add up to quite a treat... some current {Link without Title} musicals cannot boast as much melodically." For many years, the 1957 version was thought to be lost; however, a black-and-white Kinescope recording of the color telecast was re-broadcast on PBS in December 2004 as part of its '' Great Performances '' series. It was subsequently released on DVD, with a documentary including most of its original players, as well as a tape or kinescope of Rodgers and Hammerstein's appearance on the Ed Sullivan show the preceding Sunday, featuring Hammerstein reciting one of the songs to orchestral accompaniment. 1965 version The 1965 re-make of the musical, also in color, was recorded on Videotape , and is directed by Charles S. Dubin ; Richard Rodgers was executive producer (Oscar Hammerstein II had died in 1960). Although she played the title role, Lesley Ann Warren received eighth billing because this was her first television appearance, and she was as yet unknown to the general public. It also starred Ginger Rogers as the queen, Walter Pidgeon as the king, Celeste Holm as the fairy godmother, Jo Van Fleet as the stepmother, Stuart Damon as the prince, Pat Carroll as Prunella, and Barbara Ruick Esmerelda (the stepsisters). This version did not use Hammerstein's original script, but instead, a new one commissioned by Rodgers and written by Joseph Schrank. Also produced for CBS , it was regularly rebroadcast well into the 1970s. It included the song ''Loneliness of Evening'', which was written for '' South Pacific '' but never actually sung in that musical (some of the lyrics were recited as a love letter poem in the 1958 film version while a portion of the melody is used as underscoring). The "Royal Dressing Room Scene" in the 1957 version was omitted from this production. A cast album LP of the 1965 telecast was also issued by Columbia Masterworks Records . The Disney Channel aired this version in the early 1990's. 1997 version
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