GLASS SLIPPERS AND FAIRY GODMOTHERS COMING TO THE BUSHNELL

If you are waiting patiently for your Prince Charming to come, sitting by the fireplace anticipating a pumpkin coach and a pair of glass slippers courtesy of your Fairy Godmother, your name must be Cinderella. Luckily for all of us, you're scheduled to have all your dreams come true thanks to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with a new book by Douglas Carter Beane, in the Tony Award winning favorite "Cinderella" arriving at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, led by a team of high stepping horses from Tuesday, January 12 to Sunday, January 17.

If you believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters, then this new version of an old classic is just what the magician ordered to welcome a fantastic 2016.  Start conjuring up the sweet daughter whose father remarries and then dies suddenly and leaves his precious girl in the hands of a delighted-to-be-devilish step mother with two devious and less than darling step sisters.  Cinderella soon becomes a put upon scullery maid, sweeping the ashes from the hearth and waiting hand and foot on her newly acquired family.  Her loving father would be most dismayed to realize her fate.

Have no fear, however, for Cinderella has a cadre of good pals just waiting to save the day.  When an invitation arrives to the Prince's ball, it initially appears that our heroine has no more chance of attending than a mouse has of magically transforming itself into a majestic mare.  But stranger things have happened and thanks to an ingenious Fairy Godmother, someone every girl needs to have, Cinderella is able to dance the waltz with the man of her dreams.  What happens when the clock strikes midnight?  You'll have to come to see for yourself what trickery is afoot.  Mark Brokaw directs this perfection piece laced with songs like "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible/It's Possible," "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful." 

For tickets ($25.50 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-9875900 or online at www.bushnell.org.  Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

No need to don a tiara, long white gloves or a ball gown to enjoy this enchanting new version of Cinderella, an updated spirited tale that is sure to delight.