Growing up in NJ and being so close to NYC, you would have thought I’d have seen a Broadway show. But sadly no, my childhood is without memories of The Lion King, Annie or Rent (I don’t even know if those shows were on Broadway when I was a child, but we’re just gonna do with it- clearly I’m not a theater buff). Luckily, The Straz Center must have realized this deep void I had in my life and offered up some free tickets to attend the showing of Rodger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella in exchange for this review. Done and Done.
One nice thing about being a blogger is getting the chance to let others tag along for the awesome experiences, and what better person to experience the magic of Cinderella with than your mother? I am fortunate to have my parents live not too far from me, so when I asked my mom if she wanted to accompany me she was beyond excited. Tuesday night, we got dressed up and headed to the theater. I must say, it all felt very old school and glamorous.
Earlier in the day I was made aware of a great cause the show would be supporting throughout its run here in Tampa. They were inviting people to play a “Fairy Godmother” by bringing their old homecoming and prom dresses, shoes and accessories to the show to donate. All donations would benefit the Belle of the Ball Project which provides items to low-income girls in the area. I was more than happy to donate 3 dresses and was pleased to see others were donating as well, and it was only opening night!
I had only seen one performance before at the Straz Center and that was Chelsea Handler. I have to say, this was a bit more tame than Chelsea but equally as entertaining. As we headed inside to our “Tweet Seats” in the Orchestra section, I saw the stage and was completely blown away. Before Cinderella, I had only seen plays done by our high school which were actually pretty good (shout out to the Cinnaminson High School Drama Club) but come on- their sets did not look like this. From the first word to the last note, I was totally engrossed. The songs, the sneaky jokes, the costume changes! No seriously, the costume changes were insane; we’re talking let’s just spin in a circle and suddenly my rags are a gold gown. Wild! And my favorite part was how they changed up the story just a bit. I was coming in expecting a Brandy and Whitney Houston story line (let’s just say there’s a surprise).
Not only was the show amazing, but seeing all the mothers and their daughters (some dressed as Cinderella, so cute!) made it even that much more special that I could share the experience with my own mom. Thank you to The Straz Center for having us out!
Bravo!!
Allison
NHIE Guys 
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