There is lots to love in this made for TV version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. This was originally performed in 1957 in another made for television version. The 1997 version was made for Wonderful WOrld of Disney. This version features Brandy Norwood as Cinderella. The prince is played by Paolo Montalban. The king and queen are played by Victor Garber and Whoopi Goldberg. Bernadette Peters takes the roll of the stepmother and the step sisters are played by Veanne Cox and Natalie Desselle Reid. The foot man, Lionel, who announces the ball is played by Jason Alexander. The fairy godmother is portrayed by Whitney Houston.
The musical features tremendous vocals. The music from Richard Rodgers is wonderful. And of course the book from Oscar Hammerstein is also superb.
But the thing that overshadows this version the use of mixed race of the families. This is a story that lends itself to not seeing color, and the performances over power this aspect. The show was presented on Wonderful World of Disney in 1997, when rolls for minorities in movies was much talked about. In fact it is still talked about today. It would be nice to arrive at a place where color of skin is not important. It isn't in this movie.
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