Theater review: NU’s Dolphin Show presents ‘Cinderella’

The Dolphin Show is the largest student-produced musical in the country. At least 150 students take on all the responsibilities for producing the show. They could be on stage, behind the curtain with sets, costumes, makeup and technical production; in the business office, the orchestra or the front office. The tasks are endless.

This year’s show, Cinderella, is a charmer. If your middle school kids can stay up until 10 p.m., make it an event for the entire family. I suspect you will leave feeling happy.

I spoke to the director, Rachel Rubin, Class of 2025, about the selection of Cinderella as the show for 2025. This is the first time in the show’s history they have put on Cinderella. She mentioned themes that run through the show: hopefulness, kindness, imagination and belief that the world can be a better place.

Interesting cast of characters

We first meet Cinderella, or Ella, in town when she shows some kindness to Crazy Marie. Sofi Pascua is Ella and Devin Eichel is Marie. They are both excellent with great singing voices. Ella is kind, delicate and graceful, the embodiment of a future princess.

Marie does crazy very well. The on stage transformation she undergoes to become the Fairy Godmother is astonishing, and once we can see her face, her character’s personality shines through. I saw the show on opening night and there was a minor hiccup when her wig fell off for about a minute during the transformation. Eichel didn’t miss a beat. She carried on like a true professional. At the shows’s end, she was deservedly rewarded with extended applause.

This production relies on the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of the show. This prince, known as Toph, short for Christopher, has some depth and inner life. Oliver Tam as Prince Toph is excellent and convincing as a shy young man aware of his enormous responsibilities and trying to find his place in the world. He thinks about his heart, his mind and his soul. He is trying to understand his own self worth.

This is a different prince than the one who showed up just to dance at the balls.

Intrigue and plots in the kingdom

Jonah Mensch plays Sebastian, the prince’s guardian and quasi prime minister, who is sneaky with an evil bent. One of Toph’s guardsmen, Lord Pinkleton, played by Becker Spear, is hilarious. He doesn’t have a lot of lines, but he squeezes every ounce of humor out of his role with his body language, eye rolls and facial expressions. When he’s on stage, you can’t not watch him.

The stepsisters, Gabrielle, played by Yara Nasr, and Charlotte, played by Alex DeVito, are appropriately selfish and unkind toward Ella. One surprise in this version of the show: Gabrielle is trying to be nice to Ella and to get out from under her evil mother’s influence.

Mother, known as Madame (pronounced the French way), played by Kat Tuohy, is a scheming woman trying to push her (birth) daughters ahead in society at the expense of her stepdaughter, Ella, whose father died. The mother and daughters are comical in their exaggerated demonstrations of trying too hard. They are good in their roles.

The other surprise is Jean-Michel, played by Patrick Howard, who adores Gabrielle. He’s a poor and idealistic revolutionary smitten with Gabrielle who loves him in return. Jean-Michel’s character serves as sort of a moral compass to the characters in the kingdom. Will he get a chance to talk to Prince Toph?

Many supporting roles on and behind the stage

The ensemble is excellent in their speaking, singing and dancing roles. The orchestra added importance and heft to seeing a musical. So much goes into making these musicals exciting, attractive and professional, we don’t have space to list all of the people who contributed.

One special shout out to Nic Lam who designed the puppets plus Cole Edelstein as Racoon and Kiki Sikora as Fox. The three people who serve as the horse were great, too.

The show ends on a happy, optimistic note. Prince Toph finds and marries Ella. Ella forgives her stepmother. Jean-Michel and Gabrielle get together and Jean-Michel talks to Prince Toph about stopping the kingdom’s land grab of poor people’s homes. If real life is getting you down, catch one of the remaining performances. It may be just what you need.

Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Music by Richard Rodgers. Original book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. Orchestrations by Danny Troob. Music adaptation by David Chase. New book by Douglas Carter Beane. Directed by Rachel Rubin.

The show is on stage at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St. on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. It runs approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with a 15 minute intermission. Ticket prices vary from $10 to $45. Tickets may be purchased here.

Theater review: NU’s Dolphin Show presents ‘Cinderella’ is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.