Cinderella review by Robert McDowellRaleigh Little Theatre Review Musical version of “Cinderella” is a light and lively romp Raleigh Little Theatre’s crowd-pleasing production of Cinderella, which will complete its two-week run on Dec. 13-16 in the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, NC, is a royally entertaining musical comedy for Triangle children of all ages. RLT artistic director Haskell Fitz-Simons, choreographer Missy Dapper, and musical director Megan Crossin have freshened up the venerable community theater’s 24th edition of Jim Eiler and Jeanne Bargy’s charming children’s musical based on the 1697 French fairy tale “Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault (1628-1703). This year’s Cinderella is a light and lively romp through the familiar story, with set designers Rick Young and Bill Rodgers’ storybook sets and costume designers Vicki Olson and John Franklin’s must-be-seen-to-be-believed cartoon creations and outrageous wigs making the show look like a million bucks. The new Cinderella and the new Prince Charming (Katherine Anderson and Nick Culpepper) not only make beautiful music together, both literally and figuratively, but also have good chemistry and look terrific together. Anderson garners considerable sympathy as the poor orphaned girl, transformed into a virtual slave by her evil Stepmother (Sandi Sullivan reprising this plum role with extra-special pizzazz) and plug-ugly wicked stepsisters Gertrude and Henrietta (showstoppers M. Dennis Poole and Timothy Cherry in hilarious drag). Newcomer Chris White also does an outstanding job in the role of King Darling III, a nearsighted monarch with a roving eye and roaming fingers. Nick Culpepper is cute as the perplexed Prince, whose Enchanted Princess makes a whirlwind appearance at the royal ball, but stays long enough to steal his heart; and Julia Ann Rogers is once again in fine fettle as Cinderella’s ever-resourceful Fairy Godmother. Rogers’ amusing antics, with and without the assistance of her impertinent helpers (memorably portrayed by newcomers Jackson Bloom and Jason Cooper), keep the audience in stitches last Saturday afternoon and help make Cinderella a must-see musical comedy. Raleigh Little Theatre presents Cinderella Thursday-Friday, Dec. 13-14, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 15-16, at 1 and 5 p.m. in the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 1 E. South St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $16-$26. 919/821-3111 or etix.com. NOTE: All shows are wheelchair accessible, and there will be assistive listening devices at all shows. RALEIGH LITTLE THEATRE: http://raleighlittletheatre.org/performances/07-08/cinderella24.html. CINDERELLA (from D. L. Ashliman’s folktexts, a library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology): http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html. WHAT: The TRIANGLE THEATER REVIEW is a FREE weekly e-mail theatrical newsletter, featuring previews and reviews by Robert W. McDowell and reviews by Alan R. Hall and others. (For brief bios of our critics, see the CVNC biographies page.) Classical Voice of North Carolina, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and this state's leading performing-arts platform, not only pays our reviewers but also makes continued publication of TTR possible. The online versions of our critics' theater reviews are now listed on the CVNC Reviews page. CVNC also publishes a comprehensive list of Triangle Theatre Openings and an extensive list of Theater and Film Links. 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