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.

Mary Poppins. Another of those " once you've seen the movie, how can you top it." shows. .

Okay, this has been great feedback! Thank you all so much! The link to the review was very helpful and I listened to the music on amazon. I had run across those clips before and, falsely thinking I had to pay for them, I skipped the preview, so I appreciated the explanation and revisit to hear them.

My children will not care a bit about the deviation from the original story line in Cinderella, although I appreciate the heads-up. They just enjoy a good play, plain and simple. This is the first trip to NYC only for my 5 year old, who has been to other cities and seen other shows, so she will be fine. They do enjoy a "big" show best, and as long as this one has a glass slipper, a prince and princess and some upbeat music of any sort, they will be quite happy. The coach will be a huge bonus as will the fairy godmother, and they will go bonkers over the flying Cinderella. If there is still any political sideline about social injustice, etc it will entertain my 10 year old, as well as my husband. :)

I think they would really enjoy Annie just fine, but they can watch the movie and enjoy that just as well I think at this point. I wish we had time to see both, but this is really a zip-trip this time and we will have to choose only one. I know we will be back soon enough to see Annie anyway. I guess my dilemma was really just having to choose "just one." Isn't that always the hardest part about anything in NYC? So many great shows to see, places to eat, stores to shop, sites to see...you just can't fit it all into one visit for sure.

Thank you so much for helping me decide!

Patrick, we saw both shows. I can't believe the difference between the two. Having seen the movie umpteen times, my girls know every line of Annie and therefore enjoyed it thoroughly. My youngest got an Annie doll and carried her all over NYC for the rest of our trip.

However, I was underwhelmed and was VERY glad we decided to see both shows so they could see a real WOW factor with costuming and (what I think of as) big theatrical musical and stage set up performance in Cinderella....which they definitely got in the Cinderella show. How DID she change dresses before our very eyes, anyway?! And that horse and carriage was amazing. The girls did not care a bit about the diversion in the storyline, they just wanted the prince to find the princess!

Everything you said was spot on, as usual. Music and acting was superior in Cinderella. Annie needed more children and just more overall "oomph." I was so glad we saw both!

Has anyone seen the Rockettes in NYC this year? Interested what you all thought of that. Definitely added some "modernized" songs. Kids liked it. I kind of like the more traditional songs myself.

Sanibella,

Just saw Cinderella last week. A friend is one of the featured players and so he showed us around backstage afterward. He pointed out that, aside from the godmother flying, all the special effects are simply skillful manipulations of carefully-made props and costumes--no electronics, no digital technology.

In particular he showed us the velcro on a tree where Cinderella's dress is transformed. Attached to the tree is the skirt of her ball gown, with fabric like bark on one side facing out and a poofy white skirt on the underside. Dressed in rags, she spins and throws herself against a tree as if the magic is spinning her. In the throwing and spinning, she literally rolls across the skirt, pulling it from the tree and wrapping it around herself. At the same time, she repositions part of her bodice to cover the rags, and become a white gown on top as well. Soon she rides away in the coach and changes into a much nicer gown for the ball scenes. My friend--who has been in plenty of Broadway shows--remarked that Laura Osnes does this quick change particularly well.

He also shows us a backstage chalkboard covered with tallies in three categories. At one point the stepsister throws her shoe across the stage and the cast is keeping a tally of whether the shoe is caught, dropped, or missed.

That is so interesting! Love the tally board.

Our seats were close to the front and I spied the Velcro so I knew there was a trick there near the trees but I missed how it had happened. What you explained makes sense...but she is amazingly fast and accurate! And I did notice her quick change to the real ball gown, and noted how frenzied it must have been backstage the first time she did that!

What about the gold dress? I know she rolled it out of the bottom pink hoop. But the top...??? Call me mystified.

My friend suggested I look up Osnes' performance for the Tony Awards on YouTube. A special gown was created for that performance since it would be at a different theater and there would be no tree scenery to use for the illusion. If you watch it, you will see the white gown seem to appear from nowhere, though it does seem to be similar to the way the gold gown appeared, dropping from waist height somehow.

Definitely YouTubing. ;)

Me too