Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” performance was close to opening at the Haugh in February 2020 but had to be delayed due to COVID-19 and the closure of campus.
After two years, “Cinderella” finally made its debut on the Haugh stage with 33 cast members and 16 crew members.
A setback that occurred because of COVID-19, said stage manager Alexandra De La Cerda was they “didn’t have all of (their) original cast return to the production after COVID, so (they) did have to recast a couple of principal roles and cast new members of the ensemble.”
“Working with some individuals who’d already learned a lot of the material and some who were doing it for the first time,” De La Cerda said, “was an interesting experience.”
Luckily, the actress who was set to play Cinderella, Mikaelah O’Connor, still was the star of the show and said it felt amazing becoming a princess and said “it was a dream come true.”
O’Connor, a former Citrus student before the pandemic, said, “I enjoyed forcing myself into the perspective of someone who always leads from kindness and warmth.”
It took O’Connor about three years to prepare to become Cinderella, since the whole process was started pre-pandemic in 2019.
With the whole world unsure of when everything would return to normal, the entire Cinderella team was also in the dark about whether they would be able to put on their show.
De La Cerda said she “constantly got emails from the cast wondering when (they would) get to pick up the production and it was disheartening to not have an answer.”
Then earlier this year when Dean of Visual and Performing Arts John Vaughan gave De La Cerda the OK to come back, it took the cast and crew members five to six weeks of rehearsal and production process until they were ready to hit the stage.
“The biggest challenge (was) rehearsing a show without an audience,” Director Sarah Hinrichsen said. “The energy an audience brings is impossible to emulate in a rehearsal room. There’s nothing quite like having the feedback from a crowd.”
For COVID-19 safety protocols the cast and crew members were tested every other day and required to wear their masks. Also, upon seeing the show guests had to show proof of vaccination status or a negative test result.
For the entire cast and crew, the show was a beacon of light and proof that anything is possible.
“Cinderella is… all about spreading kindness and joy,” Hinrichsen said. “That’s exactly what I think this production achieved for the audience.”
