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104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
Why would a fellow want a girl like herWe must have no illusions about this, however: Cinderella is hardly great art, not even first-rate Rodgers & Hammerstein. But it is quintessential Rodgers & Hammerstein, in its way. The music soars in those dances and love songs I mentioned; there's also the infectious "Impossible," the charming "A Lovely Night," and the wistfully sweet "In My Own Little Corner." The book and lyrics, meanwhile, offer a take on the famous tale that only Hammerstein could have supplied. Who else would have given Cinderella and her wicked step-sisters and step-mother a post-ball post-mortem that finds them all in happy, dizzy accord; who else would have come up with a cockeyed optimist of a fairy godmother who urges good old fashioned American determination as the way to make dreams come true:
A girl who's merely lovely?
Why can't a fellow ever once prefer
A girl who's merely me?
But the world is full of zanies and fools
Who don't believe in sensible rules
And won't believe what sensible people say
And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes
Keep building up impossible hopes
Impossible
Things are happening every day.
When I was a kid, seeing re-runs of the Lesley Anne Warren version of Cinderella on TV, I thought the show was sappy. Now I find it worth treasuring.