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About Cinderella | How to watch | Donate | The Composer | Cast & Creatives | Reviews
Cinderella is a feisty young orphan who dreams of a better life away from her nasty stepsisters. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, she meets Prince Charming and her life is changed forever.
Kickstart your festive season with our animated and magical reimagining of the renowned folk story combining overhead projection, shadow puppetry and stop motion animation alongside a cast of wonderful singers.
Sung in English and at just an hour long, it’s the perfect festive treat for all ages!
Our family friendly version premieres on Saturday 19th December at 11am. Complete with introduction and story recaps from concert presenter Polly Ives, this version will help younger children engage with the story.
Generously supported by Arts Council England and delivered in partnership with Sheffield Music Hub.
Donate as you feel...
We're really pleased to be able to offer Cinderella on a donate-as you-feel basis. If you enjoy the production, and are in a position to, we'd ask you to consider making a donation towards the future work of Opera on Location.
Donate online
Make a secure payment online using Paypal.
Donate by text
To donate £5 text 5FAIRY to 70085
To donate £10 text 10FAIRY to 70085
To donate £20 text 20FAIRY to 70085
Texts cost donation plus one standard rate message and you'll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you'd like to donate but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text either 5FAIRYNOINFO, 10FAIRYNOINFO or 20FAIRYNOINFO to 70085.
An online event streamed to you!
Premiering December 17 2020, 8.00pm
Cinderella will premiere on YouTube and will then be available to watch afterwards at your convenience until January 9 2021. Watch using the player here on the right, or use the link below to watch on YouTube.
Premiering December 19 2020, 11.00am
Our family friendly version of Cinderella, with concert presenter Polly Ives, will premiere on YouTube and will then be available to watch afterwards at your convenience until January 9 2021. Watch using the player here on the right, or use the link below to watch on YouTube.
Resources
Download the Creative Activity Pack here for fun filled activities to enjoy at home and discussion points to help younger audiences engage with the show - the perfect accompaniment to our family friendly version of Cinderella.
Pauline Viardot
1821-1910
Pauline Viardot came from a very musical family, in fact her mother, father, sister and brother all appeared in the US premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. By the age of 6 she was already fluent in French, English, Spanish and Italian and in her later career she sang Russian so well she was believed to be a native speaker. After her father’s death, who had been teaching her piano, her mother took over and moved her focus to vocal lessons.
Viardot was keen to become a professional concert pianist having studied previously with a young Franz Liszt and it is said it was her greatest regret to have moved away from piano but she did not wish to disobey her mother’s wishes. However, even without the career she wished for she was still regarded as a truly exceptional pianist by many notable composers including her friend Chopin and Saint-Seans. Viardot had an illustrious career as a singer and performed in many operas around the world. She never had aspirations to become a composer but still wrote many songs, choral works and five operas.
Cast and Creatives
Location: Wherever you happen to be
2020 has been an unprecedented year for the arts, and at Opera on Location we were particularly impacted by not being able to be "on location". Our summer production had to be postponed, so we were even more enthused to provide something for our dedicated audience to enjoy this winter.
Reviews
Alex Burns (Classicalexburns), December 2020 ★★★★★
2020 has seen many arts organisations wildly adapt their output so they can still engage their loyal audiences. Opera on Location are no exception, with their much-anticipated digital production of Cinderella premiering on Thursday 17th December. The production sees Director Ashley Pearson and Musical Director Juliane Gallant reunite again to produce another high-quality production.
A savvy choice of show for Opera on Location, the tale of Cinderella is often a hit around Christmas-time. The newly-formed charity looked to Pauline Viardot’s 1904 operetta based on the story, originally named Cendrillon, as the musical basis for this production. Gallant’s imaginative musical re-creation of Viardot’s music sits right at the heart of this production.
This animated and magical reimagining of this popular story was dynamic and gripping from start to end. The clever use of shadow puppetry and stop motion animation really added to the stellar performances by the cast. Everything was very well recorded, which did this exciting score justice overall. It was great to hear Co-Artistic Director of Opera on Location, Gareth Lloyd, opening the production as the narrator, and I’m sure this also warmed people into the production straight away. Other Opera on Location favourites were heard in the production such as Andrea Tweedale (Maguelonne) and Christopher Littlewood (Prince Charming), who, alongside the rest of their cast mates, did a fantastic job at gripping the audience, even if we could not see them.
This clever production adds a new string onto Opera on Location’s ever-growing bow. Although ‘On Location’ meant the audience sitting at home, it was well worth it to support this fantastic organisation so that they can hopefully be creating live productions in the near future. A knock-out cast paired with clear Directorship and stunning visuals makes this production of Cinderella unmissable this Christmas.