A ‘Cinderella’ for Our Times at National Theatre

Listening to Kaitlyn Davidson, the young Broadway performer who’s taken over the role of Ella, aka Cinderella,  in the touring company of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,”  you could be forgiven for thinking just a little that she’s perfectly suited for the role because she seems to have embraced the identity with unabashed fervor.

Davidson will be on stage with the production at the National Theatre, Nov. 18 to 29, so be prepared for some magic and razzle dazzle.  This is the familiar fairy tale from the R&H team, their only production which originated on television, starring Julie Andrews in the title role.

“There are a lot of spectacular things to see—the transformation, the rise out of drudgery, a fairy godmother, too. But this is a more modern setting,” Davidson said, speaking from Atlanta, Georgia, where the show had been running.

“This is a young woman I think young girls and little girls can relate to,” she said. “I see it all of the time now. You see all those little princesses at the stage door, or in the audience, and some of them show up dressed like a princess, they’re kind of shy princesses. I get that. I kind of like that, but you know, it isn’t just about being a princess. It’s about doing what you want to do, not just finding the prince, but the best person you can possibly be.”

Davidson is exactly where she wants to be. “I love my life now,” she said. “I grew up in Kansas City, and ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to live a life in the theater, doing the big shows, being on Broadway.”

“We’ve been on the road a while now, and now that I’m doing Ella—(she went from dance Captain, doing the role of Gabrielle), things have changed a little bit, sure.  And sometimes, when you’re in an airport with your luggage and all that, sometimes, I’ve had people come up to me if I was in that show, if I was “Cinderella,” and that’s kind of startling at first, but it’s sweet, too.”

Davidson is a Midwestern girl by way of Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, and holding a musical theater degree from the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, but she’s right at home in New York.  “This is where you want to end up being,” she said. “This is where the musical theater is.”  She’s done pretty well for herself, including the highly praised “Nice Work of You Can Get It,” in the original cast and as an Assistant Dance Captain, and played in the National Tour of “White Christmas,” the Irving Berlin classic based on a movie. 

“I performed in regional theaters, but ‘Cinderella’ has been my big experience. I played in the ensemble cast, and I’ve been a wicked  stepsister on the tour. And now, it’s the slippers.  We’ve been on tour for a year now, so this is quite a happy family. My folks got to see me in Kansas City. So, that’s a great experience for me and them. That was like a hometown return.”

“There are some new things in the show, so it’s a little different from the original,” she said. “But no stinting on the magic, believe me. I think it’s a little more accessible to today’s audience.  But no, there’s no lack of magic, that’s for sure.”

Andy Huntington Jones—isn’t that a prince-like name?—is Prince Topher,  and the cast also features Liz McCartney as the Fairy Godmother, Blair Ross as Madame, the wicked stepmother, Kimberly Faure as Gabrielle and Aymee Garcia as Charlotte.