She’s a reject Hester Prynne, only with a scarlet “B” and not enough personality or meaningful character development to carry a 2 1//2-hour show. Still, because outcast Cinders is herself dressed like a supporting character from “The Mandalorian,” she is nicknamed “Bad Cinderella” by the nasty villagers. Linedy Genao sings Cinderella’s “I want” song, “Easy To Be Me,” which is too low-energy. The musical is obsessed with looks: It’s set in a hamlet called Belleville (beautiful town en Francais), the opening number sung by its residents is “Beauty Is Our Duty,” and the fairy godmother (Christina Acosta Robinson) is now a ridiculous magic-free plastic surgeon who sings a number called “Beauty Has a Price” before she sort-of operates on Cinderella.Īppropriately, the sultry costumes by Gabriela Tylesova, better than they were in the West End, could conceivably be rented out to a “Beauty and the Beast” porno. With a terrible book of meme quotes by “Promising Young Woman” writer-director Emerald Fennell, “Bad Cinderella” is really about society’s unfair beauty standards. But they couldn’t very well call it “Not-Blonde Cinderella.” I first saw the show in London back in fall of 2021, and for 17 head-scratching months I’ve been asking myself: What exactly makes Cinderella so bad? Collectively, the musical makes as much sense as “The Rum Tum Tugger” on an endless loop. A bunch of beefcakes called the Hunks occasionally take the stage to dance and work out shirtless. A fun-enough horde of shirtless beefcakes called the Hunks dance, thrust, do push-ups and lift weights. Not excited by ballads or teen flirting? “Bad Cinderella” is also a Chippendales strip show. The wonderful song “Only You, Lonely You,” sung not by Cinderella but by Prince Sebastian (Jordan Dobson), is the single best moment of the musical, which is unfortunate because it happens during the first 25 minutes.Ĭinderella’s “I Know I Have A Heart (Because You Broke It)” and “Far Too Late” are pretty - the too-wordy lyrics are by David Zippel - but there’s no powerful narrative build to help them soar like they should. Then there are Lloyd Webber’s lushly orchestrated and tuneful ballads, which - all chandeliers aside - are why we come to any show by him. Linedy Genao and Jordan Dobson play Cinderella and Prince Sebastian in “Bad Cinderella” on Broadway. The love story at the center has no drama. It’s part cutesy, Nickelodeon-style teen comedy: A vapid character remarks on someone’s looks, “It’s giving peasant! It’s giving rags!” And Cinderella’s romance with her geeky prince is reduced to a “friend zone,” does-he-like-me miscommunication. From start to finish during this perplexing and often dull fairytale spin - and, oh, does it spin - you’re never entirely sure what you’re watching or why you’re watching it. It’s a mess with multiple personality disorder. At the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street. 2 and a half hours with one intermission.
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