A gutsy princess, confused prince and kind stepsister animate Theater Latté Da's 'Cinderella'

Justin Lucero is ready to turn a pumpkin into a castle, with a little help from his friends.

For his Minnesota directorial debut, Theater Latté Da's new artistic director has dug into his bucket list of dream works and come up with Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," which opens Saturday at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

Coming at the holidays, a period that performing arts and other companies rely on to tally a significant part of their earned income, the production is carrying a lot of weight for the theater. It's also likely to be seen as an announcement of Lucero's aesthetic vision and even the direction in which he seeks to take Latté Da.

"It's one of the shows I've always wanted to tackle," Lucero said. "It has all the songs that we love — 'In My Own Little Corner,' 'Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful,' 'It's Possible' — but is more contemporary."

Audiences have had a giddy "Cinderella" at the holidays before. Children's Theatre Company staged an over-the-top panto version with loads of physical comedy in 2016 and a modern take in 2019 that gave nods to Marie Kondo and Lady Gaga.

In text, feel and aesthetic, the Latté Da production is from a different world entirely. While CTC riffed on pop music and culture in its version, Latté Da leans on Douglas Carter Beane's new script, which is married to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Lucero's production also may remind audiences of a noted TV version of "Cinderella" — the 1997 film starring Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother and Brandy as Cinderella.

"Whitney had been trying to get that show produced and wanted to play the role herself, but it took too long, and by the time it was greenlit, she was no longer right for the part," Lucero said. "But she got Brandy, who she was close to, to play this beautiful Cinderella."

Lucero has tapped Nambi Mwassa for the title role and Deidre Cochran as the Fairy Godmother. Cochran is best known for acting, singing and dancing in musicals at Bloomington's Artistry. Newcomer Mwassa, a White Bear Lake native who four years ago graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, impressed with her recent turn as Celie's sister in "The Color Purple," also for Latté Da.

The shoe fits

"This is my biggest role and I'm excited to share it with everybody," Mwassa said. "I relate to Cinderella because she's teaching kindness and forgiveness. I also relate to her because while she may be overlooked and dismissed, she has a strong heart and a lot to offer."

Latté Da is known for the clever imagination it brings to classics and new works, creative efficiencies achieved out of necessity. The company does a whole season of shows on its $4 million annual budget, a figure that would pay for only a fraction of one Broadway production. Yet audiences and critics alike often liken the quality of the company's work to things seen in New York.

While "Cinderella" is not going to have bells and whistles or the automation that one sees in Times Square, it will have theatrical imagination, if not magic, Lucero said.

"We're using movement as our facilitating element to tell the story of the transformations of the carriage turning into a pumpkin and the dress magically appearing," Lucero said.

Kyle Weiler, best known for being a dance captain on "Hamilton," is choreographing the small cast of 13 in a show that normally has 40 actors.

Musically, as well, the show has been updated. The actors' voices will color the songs, infusing a contemporary sensibility with the classic styling of Rodgers and Hammerstein's score.

"These singers are actually bringing a whole new voice and really beautiful contemporary bent to the way they deliver their solos," Lucero said.

Power to the people

Beane's adaptation reimagines the story to empower Cinderella. Sure, she's poor and put upon, but she holds more of her destiny in her hands. Importantly, she helps the prince, who is having something of an identity crisis, gain clarity and confidence as he prepares to rule.

Beane also rethought the stepsisters. One is still mean but the other is kind. Those roles are played by Isa Condo-Olvera, a memorable Iphigenia at Ten Thousand Things, and Hope Nordquist, whose recent shows include "Peter and the Starcatcher" and "Kinky Boots" at the Duluth Playhouse.

Veteran performer Sally Wingert appears as the stepmother. For Wingert, it's a full-circle moment. While she has not acted in "Cinderella" before, she grew up watching the 1965 TV movie starring Lesley Ann Warren.

"To watch that was an event, just like watching 'The Wizard of Oz,'" Wingert said. "And Pat Carroll played Prunella, one of the ugly, wicked stepsisters, and I thought, that's my wheelhouse."

Wingert has seen a myriad of "Cinderellas," and she welcomes all the interpretations. They give the diehard story different kinds of resonance.

"The book has a social justice feel married to the sweep and romance of Rodgers and Hammerstein, so it's not the obvious romance but it's twinkly, just twinkly," Wingert said.

If there's pressure on Lucero's introductory production, it's understandable. He also welcomes it.

"I gravitate toward work that is hyper-theatrical," he said.

Lucero also leans into theater's reliance on the whole thing being a conspiracy between artists and audience. "Cinderella" was originally conceived as a TV show, a one-and-done filming, not something that has to be performed live eight or 10 times a week.

"How in the world are you ever supposed to have a fairy godmother magically appear and a dress that magically transforms and a carriage thrown out of a pumpkin?" Lucero said. "I love that theater recruits an audience to activate their imagination and fill in the gaps."