3rd Graders Meet 'Cinderella' Actors
DENVER (CBS4) - "Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" is wrapping up its run at the Buell Theatre. For some Denver 3rd graders it's the finale for a several week school project that has introduced them to theatre and the history of this classic fairy tale.
"It was amazing," said 9-year-old Charlotte.
"Magical," 3rd grader Juan said.
"I thought it was pretty good," said 9-year-old Trigger.
The students got to go to the matinee on Thursday afternoon to see the story they've been studying come to life.
"I liked it when there was the smoke coming on the stage and Cinderella was singing to the Fairy Godmother," said 8-year-old Christian.
"When the Fairy Godmother was flying in the air, it was really cool," Charlotte added.
What was even more cool was when some of the stage actors showed up at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy.
"I've never met a famous person before so it's exciting to meet professional actors," said 8-year-old Meztli.
The children performed "Cinderella" tableaus they'd been working on for weeks and asked their most pressing questions about the performance.
"How did you change your dress so fast? Because she was in rags one minute and then the next minute she was in a big ball gown dress. It was amazing," Meztli asked.
"It's magic," replied Audrey Cardwell, the actress who played Cinderella on Thursday when the 3rd graders saw the musical.
The trip to the theatre and the visit from the cast are the culmination of a classroom project designed to introduce the students to performing arts and the history of "Cinderella". They've learned about five different versions of the classic story.
""Cinderella" can be different in different countries," Meztli explained.
"Some of them are mean ... some of them are kind of nice," Charlotte added.
Even the version playing at the Buell isn't the "Cinderella" that you may remember.
"We took the classic "Cinderella" tale by Charles Perrault and we put a modern twist on it," said Andy Jones who plays Prince Topher in the touring production of "Cinderella".
Even with a modern twist, the message of "Cinderella" is timeless -- every one lives happily ever after. It's the kind of message that the actors hope the 3rd graders get from studying the story.
"What I hope they take away from this ... and what I hope they take away from their teacher, David, is that through theatre and through saying, 'Yes' in theatre and in life, we can overcome our challenges and that really anything is possible," Jones told CBS4.
"Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" runs through February 15th at the Buell Theatre.
LINK: Denver Center for the Performing Arts
--Written for CBSDenver.com by Special Projects Producer Libby Smith
