The world’s favorite step-daughter once again meets her Prince Charming (but this time the man in question is an injured WWII pilot, the setting is London circa The Blitz, and their romantic tale-as-old-as-time is told entirely in dance as only Sir Matthew Bourne can choreograph it) in the thrillingly performed, apty retitled Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella (Music By Prokoviev), now paying a return visit to the Ahmanson Theatre twenty years after it first captivated L.A.

Few events in 20th-century English history have exerted more continued fascination than the all-out bombing campaign the Third Reich launched on September 7, 1940, an eight-month Blitz that galvanized Great Britain’s determination to defeat the Nazis, and Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella quite appropriately sets the scene with a black-and-white newsreel report on the damage and destruction being wrought from the night skies above London.

 Cut to Cinderella (Ashley Shaw, the Bourne troupe’s radiant reigning prima ballerina*) doing what every Cinderella before her has done–housekeeping drudgery under the demanding gaze of  stepmother Sybil (Madelaine Brennan, displaying wicked allure) and the haughty disdain of stepsisters Irene (Sophia Hurdley) and (Vivien) Anjali Mehra, though this time round Cinderella’s got a still alive-but-not-necessarily-kicking father (veteran Bourne star Alan Vincent as the wheelchair-bound Robert) and a trio of obnoxious stepbrothers (Jackson Fisch as Malcolm, Stephen Murray as Elliott, and the stepsister-craving Vernon) to contend with as well.

 Pirouetting in for Disney’s Fairy Godmother is The Angel (Liam Mower, charisma personified), a vision in hair-to-toe white, doing double duty both as Angel Of Death to those unlucky enough not to escape Nazi bombs and as Guardian Angel for those with more chance of survival, namely Cinderella and her Pilot Charming (the dashing Andrew Monaghan as Harry) should they be so fortunate as to survive.

 With Sergei Prokofiev’s prerecorded music filling the Ahmanson with the same blend of classical magnificence and 20th-century innovation that first thrilled Bolshoi audiences only months after VE Day, Bourne’s New Adventures Company execute the master director-choreographer’s instantly recognizable quirky-jerky dance moves to stunning perfection, not only giving fresh life to Prokofiev’s three-quarters-century-old melodies but making this Cinderella a virtual Play Without Words (not coincidentally the title of a 2005 Matthew Bourne-Ahmanson hit), dance moves taking the place of dialog every step of the way.

 Most spectacular of the evening’s choreographic highlight’s is Act Two’s fête at the Café De Paris, one that begins with an image of bodies strewn amidst bombed-out wreckage, then flashes back to the pre-attack festivities featuring bandleader Alphonso (Vincent), Cinderella and her Pilot in dressed-to-impress splendor, and every eligible bachelor (minus a couple of eyes-only-for-each-other gents) partnering Cinderella all at once.

 Other high points include ballets danced by a) a high-flying pilot squadron garbed all in white, b) a pack of rampaging gas-mask-sporting “dogs,” and most dramatically, c) a London Underground sequence featuring prostitutes and rent boys, a couple of Salvation Army soul-savers, and even “the couple from Brief Encounter.”

 With more than a few flashbacks and enough variations from both the Disney and the Rodger-&-Hammerstein versions Americans are most familiar with, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella may have audiences a tad confused at times, but hardly enough to matter, not with a cast as sensational as the one Opening Night audiences had the pleasure to cheer, featured roles performed by Stephanie Billers (Mabel), Cordelia Braithwaite (Betty), João Carolino (Monty), Reece Causton (Buster), Paris Fitzpatrick (Dick), swing Kate Lyons (Judy), Matt Petty (Tom), Danny Reubens (Stan), Mark Samaras (Wilfred), and Seren Williams (Flora).

 Not surprisingly, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is as breathtaking to look at as it is breathtakingly danced thanks to Lez Brotherton’s glorious set and costumes, Neil Austin’s dazzling lighting, and Duncan McLean’s striking projections, and sound designer Paul Groothuis has orchestral tracks sounding quite lush indeed.

 Etta Murfitt is associate artistic director. Neil Westmoreland is resident director. Shae Valley is production supervisor. Nicole Gehring is company manager.

 Though almost certainly not the first time Prokofiev’s Cinderella has been costumed to fit the era during which it was written, there’s doubtless never been a production as Blitz-specific as Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, nor one as innovatively choreographed as this, nor one as likely to entrance even audiences who might never opt for a night of classical ballet at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

 With its cinematic mix of drama, romance, humor, and dance, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is as mesmerizing and magical as live theater gets.

 *All roles are double or triple cast. The Cinderella company also includes Ben Brown (swing), Jackson Frisch, Jack Jones, Daisy Mae Kemp, Edwin Ray, Catrin Thomas, Joe Walkling, Katie Webb, and Daniel Wright.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
February 6, 2019
Photos: Johan Persson

Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Matthew Bourne, New Adventures, Sergei Prokofiev