In a treat to kick off the fall holiday season, Kentucky Opera presents Jules Massenet's version of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella, this Friday, November 2 at 8 p.m. Based on the story by Charles Perrault, this opera should please all ages, pairing beautiful music with the familiar story of the ash-sweeping Cinderella (Cendrillon, in French), her Fairy Godmother, the magic glass slippers, and of course, Prince Charming. The opera will be sung in English with English supertitles.
Directed by John de los Santos and conducted by Emmanuel Plasson, the magical tale stars Ariana Chris as Cinderella, making her Kentucky Opera debut. Prince Charming is a "trouser role" for mezzo-soprano Claire Shackleton who was last seen as Cherubino in last year's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Rounding out the female-dominated cast is Angela Mannino as the Fairy Godmother and Kathryn Cowdrick as the stepmother, Madame de la Haltiere. The role of Pandolphe, Cinderella's well-meaning, but ineffectual father, will be played by Kevin Glavin.
Tickets are still available for the Friday performance, as well as the Sunday matinee on November 4 at 2 p.m. All performances take place at the Brown Theatre, 315 W Broadway.
See a snippet of Cinderalla and Prince Charming singing a love duet in this scene, featuring Joyce Di Donato and Alice Coote (Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, 2011):
