“Cinderella” opens at Del Norte High on Friday

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” will be presented by two casts on the Del Norte High stage starting this Friday and continuing next week.

Shows are 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6; 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11 and 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Tickets, sold at the door, are $15 for adults, $10 for high school students, $5 for ages 6 to 13, and free for children 5 and younger.

The Del Norte High School Performing Arts Center is at 16601 Nighthawk Lane in 4S Ranch.

The musical, originally written for television in 1957, is about a girl turned servant by her abusive stepmother and stepsisters. Through the magic of her godmother, she attends a ball where she meets and falls in love with a prince. Since the magic that transformed her work clothes into a beautiful ballgown ends at midnight, Cinderella loses her glass slipper as she hastily flees the palace. A search is then conducted to find the girl that the prince is determined to marry.

“It’s slightly different from the Disney version and there are no talking animals, but it is the basic ‘Cinderella’ story that most people are familiar with,” said Director Stephanie DeYoung.

DeYoung said she chose this show because it is family-friendly and the Del Norte Drama Department is trying to reach out to the community. She said it is a good musical for younger students to see their potential opportunities at the campus.

As for why she double cast the show, DeYoung said, “I had an amazing group audition and wanted to give all of them an opportunity to be on stage. There is not physically enough room for all and we’re trying to build our program, generating more interest in drama. It was twice as much work (for me) in the same (allotted) time, but the kids have been really patient.”

Among those helping DeYoung with the show are teachers Keith Sattely (musical director) and Jennifer Kitelinger (band director).

The “Carriage Cast” will perform on Feb. 5; Feb. 6 (7 p.m. show) and Feb. 11. Its actors are: Angelica McDaniel (Cinderella), Grant Hylton (Prince), Evan Zhu (King), Ariel Crabbe (Queen), Lamia Mansur (Stepmother), Pyper Abrigo (Joy), Elizabeth Soares (Portia), Emma Dorn (Godmother), Nathan Judd (Herald), Andrew Alexander (Chef), Caleb Maranian (Steward), Sierra Escola and Bennie Mortensen (Footmen), Elias Knudstrup (Minister). Townspeople are Deema Alsaied, Brianna Applestein, Sara Borough, Jessica Borough, Shrea Chari, Adam Chohan, Kylie Combe, Victoria Hua, Lindsey Kirkwood, Shea Lane, Cindy Mai, Paityn Manor, Davide Pinto, Tori Sears, Tara Shikret, Gabbi Shultz, Garima Singh and Joselle Vega.

The “Slipper Cast” will perform on Feb. 6 (2 p.m. show) and Feb. 12. Its actors are: Marie Trischman (Cinderella), Cameron Hepworth (Prince), Ben Carter (King), Madelyne Quiroz (Queen), Savanna Lloyd (Stepmother), Greta Heidrick-Barnes (Joy), Alex Peterson (Portia), Abbey Linton (Godmother), Audrey Linton (Herald), Tri Le (Chef), Parker Shyu (Steward), Sierra Escola and Bennie Mortensen (Footmen) and Adam Chohan (Minister). Townspeople are Makena Barmettler, Emma Carelli, Katie Chohan, Zoe Glover, Anne Hepworth, Elias Knudstrup, Nyelah Mitchell, Nikki Moallemi, Davide Pinto, Elisa Ritter, Lauren Santos, Lara Tuazon, Alana Webb and Nerissa Yiu.

Musicians are Indira Lofflin, Annie Wang, Jordan Querubin, Meghan Gaur, Nick Hsu, Francesco Conte, Thomas Kim, Anil Singh, Samuel Kredich, Sarah Mills, Richie Brechwald, Julianne Mackey, Matthew Shiina-Graham, Kevin An, Josh Taylor, Vincent Ngo, Samantha Burke, Terry Feng, Wynnie Chan, Danielle Botts, Michelle Chan, Calvin Liew, Alex Pham, Sonali Carlton, Claudia Xue, Caroline Barker, Trinity Hall and Kyle Lennan.