Win Tickets to "Cinderella" at the Ordway

Ten minutes ago, I saw you…. I looked up as you came through the door… My head started reeling… It gave me the feeling, the room had no ceiling or floor!
Yeah, that’s in my head right now.
Disney Cinderella fans beware.  Rodgers & Hammerstein is about to blow you away.

The Cinderella movie I grew up watching

I’m not sure how many of you grew up watching over and over the 1965 TV version of Cinderella with Ginger Rogers as the queen and Lesley Ann Warren as Cinderella, with the original music from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella, but I did. I was obsessed. I know every song. Seriously. I pity my husband, since I’m taking him with me to see the show at the Ordway in 2 weeks and I know I’ll be jumping up and down trying to restrain myself from singing the musical’s amazing tunes, and heartfelt lyrics.
I can’t tell you (yet) which is better, the Ordway Theater’s production of Cinderella running from December 13, 2011 until January 1, 2012 (yes, I said 2012 – OMG! It’s almost 2012!) or the movie I grew up with, but if you stay tuned, in 2 weeks when I review the play you’ll get the full blow by blow.
In the meantime, you know it, TC Jewfolk has the hook up.  Read a little bit about the Jews behind this show and you’ll earn your chance to win a pair of free tickets to see “Cinderella” at the Ordway this winter  – date night!

About Cinderella the Musical

So it turns out that although 1965 sounds like FOREVER ago, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “Cinderella” was actually written for TV, and originally produced in 1957 with Julie Andrews as Cinderella.  Richard Rodgers (MOT) wrote the music and Oscar Hammerstein II (MOT) wrote the lyrics. The original Julie Andrews broadcast was made before video recording had been perfected, so everyone had to watch it on TV at the same time or miss it.  And so they did. According to Wikipedia, “the 1957 version of Cinderella was seen by the largest audience in history at the time of its premiere: 107,000,000 people in the USA, fully 60% of the country’s population at that time. Variety estimated that 24.2 million households were tuned in to the show, with an average of 4.43 viewers each. Jon Cypher later remembered leaving the studio a few minutes after the broadcast had ended and finding the Manhattan streets deserted because so many had stayed in to watch the broadcast.” WOW!

Brandy's Rodgers & Hammerstein Cinderella

The younger of you folks of course remember only the 1997 version of the movie (almost all the same amazing songs) with Brandy as Cinderella, Whitney Houston as Fairy Godmother, and Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother, all produced by Whitney Houston. A great cast, but can’t compare with the 1965 version, or the impressive turnout to watch the 1957 version on TV.

More on Rodgers & Hammerstein

Born into a wealthy German Jewish family in Queens, NYC, Richard Rodgers started playing piano at age 10.  He went to what is now known as Julliard (then the Institute of Musical Art).  Rogers wrote music for more than 900 songs and 43 musicals over the course of his career, becoming the first person ever to win what are considered the top show business awards in television, recording, movies and Broadway—an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony—now known collectively as an EGOT. He also won a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of two people to receive all five awards.
Hammerstein was the grandson of Oscar Hammerstein I, a German-Jewish opera and theater producer, director and theater-owner who fled Prussia in his late teens to come to the United States. Hammerstein II’s father was also in the theater business, and is generally credited with creating the “pie in the face” gag. Hammerstein II was raised Episcopalian, and quick law school to go into theater. Over his career Hammerstein II co-wrote 850 songs, won eight Tony Awards and twice received Academy Awards for “Best Original Song.”  When Hammerstein II died in 1960 at the age of 65, the lights of Times Square were turned off for a minute, and London’s West End lights were dimmed.
Rogers collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein II on many of his musicals, including Oklahoma!, The King and I, and Sound of Music. Together, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals earned a total of 35 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards.

So… How Can I Win The FREE Tickets?

CInderella at the Ordway

TC Jewfolk is giving away two FREE pairs of tickets to see Cinderella at the Ordway Theater in Saint Paul.  One pair for the performance on Tuesday, December 13th at 7:30 p.m. and one pair for the Cinderella performance on Wednesday, December 14th at 7:30 p.m.
To enter to win, answer this simple question in the comments below before this Friday, December 2nd when the clock strikes midnight: What’s your favorite Saint Paul restaurant to eat at before going to a show at the Ordway?  We’ll draw the winners randomly, and the first winner gets the first pick of the two performances.  If the second winner can’t attend on the night remaining, we’ll draw again.
Good luck!  And enjoy the show!
(As I sing) … In my own little corner, in my own little chair… I can be whatever I want to be…. 🙂