By Ed Diokno
Filipino Americans Ali Ewoldt and Josh Dela Cruz will bring a new interpretation to a timeless classic as the stars of a special performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Cinderella—In Concert! is presented by the National Asian Artists Project and will run on Mar. 2. The concert is part of the NAAP’s Rediscover Series, which explores classic American musicals with professional artists of Asian descent to prove that great works of theater can speak to all communities.
Audiences might recognize Ewoldt as the first “Christine” of color in Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera and Dela Cruz as the current host of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You.
NAAP was co-founded by Isabelle Stevenson, Tony Award honoree Baayork Lee, Steven Eng and Nina Zoie Lam. Today it is a community of artists, educators, administrators, community leaders, and professionals who recognize the need to build bridges between the work of artists of Asian descent and the many communities that the work can serve.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s adaptation of Cinderella was originally nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. The cast list for NAAP’s presentation of Cinderella also includes Ann Harada (Avenue Q, Cinderella, Emojiland), Carol Angeli, Hannah Balagot, Cáitlín Burke, Jordan De Leon, Kendyl Ito, Kevin Kulp, Jason Ma, Jaygee Macapugay, Mia Mooko, Anthony Obnial, James Seol, Kyra Smith, Matheus Ting, Vishal Vaidya, and Kelli Youngman with the NAAP Kids and the NAAP Broadway Community Chorus.
Alan Muraoka will direct, with musical direction by Kristen Lee Rosenfeld and choreography by Billy Bustamante.
The VIP package for the NAAP concert includes a pre-theater dinner at La Masseria Dei Vini. Tickets are available online.
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