|What to Expect from Cendrillon
| WHAT TO EXPECT FROM CENDRILLON IT IS THE MOST BELOVED FAIRY TALE OF ALL TIME: A YOUNG WOMAN THE WORK: of unmatched grace, beauty, and goodness overcomes the abuse of her CENDRILLON stepfamily, profits from the help of a fairy godmother, wins the heart of a An opera in four acts, sung in French royal suitor, and lives happily ever after. For almost two thousand years, Music by Jules Massenet versions of the Cinderella story have spread across the globe, inspiring inter- Libretto by Henri Cain pretation by myriad authors, playwrights, musicians, and filmmakers. In the Based on the fairy tale fin-de-siècle opera by Jules Massenet, the virtue of the title character is made Cendrillon by Charles Perrault more poignant by her sadness—occasionally, even her despair. In addition First performed May 24, 1899 to incorporating the iconic elements familiar from Charles Perrault’s fairy at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, France tale—the carriage formed from a pumpkin, the midnight curfew, and the singular glass slipper—Massenet infuses his opera with comedy, romance, PRODUCTION and wistfulness. Bertrand de Billy, Conductor This new production by director Laurent Pelly quite literally brings the Laurent Pelly, Production storybook tale to life. Inspired by an edition of Perrault’s Cendrillon as illus- Barbara de Limburg, Set Designer trated by Gustave Doré that Pelly read as a child, the production is steeped Laurent Pelly, Costume Designer in the physical, typographical materials of the fairy tale. The set evokes Duane Schuler, Lighting Designer the pages of a book, with black and white text forming its walls, and the shapes of characters and props appearing as large cut-out letters.
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