It was only a few months ago there were protests in the West End of London against Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The composer/producer/theater owner shut down his production of “Cinderella” without warning and called the show “a costly mistake.” The cast and crew were furious. But COVID has interrupted “Cinderella” and it never took off.
Now ALW has reinvented “Cinderella” as “Bad Cinderella” and is bringing it Broadway with a whole new cast and angle: hit the Latinx market. ALW has chucked Carrie Hope Fletcher, the star of the West End production, and hired a newcomer, Linedy Genao. She’s the total opposite of the London star, a Dominican American who previously appeared in “On Your Feet” and as an understudy in “Dear Evan Hansen.” Congrats to her.
In keeping with this new theme, ALW has retitled the show, and released a single from it called “Bad Cinderella” in both English and Spanish.
Emerald Fennell wrote the book, David Zippel wrote the lyrics, JoAnn M. Hunter did the choreography and the director is Laurence Connor. Christine Schwartzman‘s No Guarantees group is producing. Opening night is March 23rd.
If it’s a hit I guess “Bad Cinderella” will head back to the West End, where all the people who worked on it in the first place will march in front of the theater with placards. But that won’t be for some time.
Lesson: never bet against Andrew Lloyd Webber. He’s an evil genius!
