Cinderella or Annie -- on Broadway
 

We are taking our children to NYC in December, ages 6, 8, 10. Our big decision is which show to see. The two oldest children have been before and have seen Wicked, Mary Poppins, and Lion King. That is why we are narrowing it down to Cinderella and Annie, so it is a show that is new for everyone. Any feedback on these two shows to help us decide? Thanks in advance.

Annie

Don't know anything about Cinderella, but I've always loved Annie.

No matter which one you select, check broadwaybox.com and playbill.com for discount offers on both.

My husband and daughter just got back from NYC and seeing Momma Mia and Cinderella. I would suggest Annie for your age group.

My daughter (16) said that the Cinderella story does not follow the Disney story line completely (if that makes a difference for your family).

Thanks, Howard, I did forget about those options and I appreciate the reminder!

I do think Annie is just a more solid choice all-around but I have a princess-lover on my hands, which is the only reason we are considering the Cinderella show.

Does anyone know how the two shows compare in regards to special effects, stage scenery, acting, music, etc? Or if you have seen one or the other, can you comment to any of these qualities of either show?

My daughter nor my husband were wow'd with Cinderella... Said there wasn't one ""amazing" song or scene in the show. Having said that it did win Tony's didn't it?

For points of reference we seen many Broadway Productions... Wicked, the lion King, hairspray, legally blonde, Jersey boys, the Phantom of the opera,just to name a few...

Well, for costumes and "spectacle" I'd definitely say Cinderella. The godmother even flies! And Laura Osnes makes a beautiful and perfect Cinderella! Better singing too (or more 'beautiful' singing, at least). My main objection with the current production of Annie was it just didn't seem "big" enough. Four to six orphans doing the big numbers just seemed so lame when you've seen productions with maybe 12 to 20 at a time doing those numbers equally as well. I wasn't crazy about Kate Finneran as Miss Hannigan either, but the current one -- Faith Prince -- actually may be a little better.

And you have a princess lover? Definitely Cinderella over Annie.

Thank you for this great feedback. I'm taking notes on everything and these are very valid points. Just wondering, are any of the musical numbers in Cinderella upbeat or are they mostly dreamy, pretty pieces? This is not really a deciding factor, just wondering what the general mood of the play is like.

Go to this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Rodgers-Hammer.../dp/B00CJVZ6JS

You can hear samples of ALL the songs from the current production.
Stepsister's Lament is REALLY lively and great fun. Impossible is pretty lively too. But Rogers and Hammerstein did some of their best love song work on this score -- it's really quite a good score and well sung in this production.

Oh, if you're not familiar with the Amazon links, just go down the list and click the arrows to the extreme left of each song title and hear the sample. At first glance you might think you'd have to pay to hear them, but you don't. That's only to download the full song.

We just returned from NYC and our granddaughters just loved Annie.

I haven't seen the current production of Annie, but I have seen this Cinderella. I think little girls will adore Cinderella and find the costume changes magical. I saw it in previews and was under the impression that some of the original plot was restored before opening night. Anyone know about that?

was under the impression that some of the original plot was restored before opening night. Anyone know about that?>

I am not sure what the preview was like but my daughter said it does not follow the Disney version..

I'm not sure what you mean by "original" plot? The original Rodgers and Hammerstein version was written for TV in the 1950s and it was rewritten for two more TV versions after that, with a number of changes each time. More changes were made for this production which is the first ever for Broadway. None of them are quite the same as the more familiar Disney cartoon version, but none of them are quite like the "original" fairy tale versions either. Rather than a King and Queen in this version there is a sort of "evil stepfather" for the Prince to counter part the evil stepmother of Cinderella. In previews of this version a number of more political satire issues were added, and most of those have since been removed -- as they just didn't seem to "work".

Interesting review
http://broadwayshowsforkids.com/cind...ll-be-shocked/

Well that article is interesting, but hardly a review and not even fully accurate. The writer admits he hadn't seen it yet, and it was written before the show even opened and made changes!

I understand Patrick - I just thought it helped explain about young children who love Disney and the Broadway production.

True. I'm sure the biggest complaint from kids would be "no bippity bippity boo".

I think so too Patrick. We actually did not enjoy Mary Poppins, but I know it has done well on Broadway.