When the television program, starring Julie Andrews as Cinderella, first aired in 1957, it was the most widely viewed program in the history of the medium at that time.Since then, Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella has continued to charm audiences in productions on stage and on television.
Cinderella features some of Rodgers and Hammersteins most beloved songs, including In My Own Little Corner, Impossible, and Ten Minutes Ago. CBS invested in a massive marketing campaign, as did the sponsors. 2 Ed Sullivan also promoted the show, which would be seen in his usual Sunday night time slot, with an appearance by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II on the previous Sunday. 1 It was broadcast live on March 31, 1957. For the 2020 Lloyd Webber musical of the same name, see Cinderella (Lloyd Webber musical). The story concerns a young woman forced into a life of servitude by her cruel stepmother and self-centered stepsisters, who dreams of a better life. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is transformed into a Princess and finds her Prince. It was originally broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. It was subsequently remade for television twice, in 1965 and 1997. The 1965 version starred Lesley Ann Warren and Stuart Damon. The 1997 version starred Brandy Norwood in the title role, with Whitney Houston as the fairy godmother. A 2013 adaptation on Broadway starred Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana, with a new book by Douglas Carter Beane. Broadcast versions of Annie Get Your Gun, Wonderful Town, Anything Goes, and Kiss Me, Kate were all seen during the decade. In 1955, NBC had broadcast the Broadway musical Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin. It was a hit, and the network looked for more family-oriented musical projects. Cinderella The Musical Series About WorldRichard Rodgers had previously supplied the Emmy Award -winning score for Victory at Sea, a documentary series about World War II. NBC approached Rodgers and Hammerstein and asked them to write an original musical expressly for television (rather than merely adapting an existing one to the television special format), then a novel idea. Lewine was then the Vice President in charge of color television at CBS. He told Rodgers and Hammerstein that CBS was also seeking a musical project and had already signed Julie Andrews, who was then starring in My Fair Lady on Broadway. Rodgers recalled, in his autobiography: What sold us immediately was the chance to work with Julie. Rodgers and Hammerstein signed with CBS. In adapting the famous fairy tale, Rodgers and Hammerstein stayed faithful to the original Charles Perrault version. Hammerstein was interviewed by the Saturday Review about the adaptation: We want the kids who see it to recognize the story they know. But, of course, their parents will be watching too, so we have tried to humanize the characters without altering the familiar plot structure. The musical had to fit into the 90-minute program with six commercial breaks, so it was divided into six short acts. In an interview with Time Magazine, Hammerstein said that It took me seven months to write the book and lyrics for Cinderella. Emmy Award-winning director Ralph Nelson and choreographer Jonathan Lucas, who had choreographed for The Milton Berle Show, were both experienced with musical material on television. Rodgers friend, Robert Russell Bennett, provided the orchestrations. In early March, the company moved to CBS Television Color Studio 72, 4 the first CBS-TV color studio in New York and the smallest color studio in the CBS empire at the time. The 56 performers, 33 musicians and 80 stagehands and crew worked crammed into the small studio together with four giant RCA TK-40A color TV cameras, a wardrobe of up to 100 costumes, over half a dozen huge set pieces, and numerous props and special effects equipment. The orchestra played in a small room with special equipment to overcome the suppressed acoustics. CBS invested in a massive marketing campaign, as did the sponsors. Ed Sullivan also promoted the show, which would be seen in his usual Sunday night time slot, with an appearance by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II on the previous Sunday. It was broadcast live on March 31, 1957.
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