Starring deaf and hearing actors, OKC theater's staging of 'Cinderella' is extra magical

Talk about your heartwarming Cinderella story: As "Impossible" — or at least, as unlikely — as it may seem, Lyric Theatre's bilingual production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's fairytale musical casts a uniquely enchanting spell that adults and children alike can fall in love with.

For the final title of Lyric's three-show "Summer at the Civic" season, Oklahoma's official state theater is again collaborating with Deaf Austin Theatre as well as the Zach Theatre in Austin, Texas, to make the magic of "Cinderella," with performances continuing through Sunday, Aug. 4 at Civic Center Music Hall.

Co-directed by Lyric Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron and Deaf Austin Theatre Artistic Director Brian A. Cheslik , the innovative retelling of the enduring folk tale features deaf, hearing and hard of hearing actors and is performed simultaneously and mostly seamlessly in English and American Sign Language.

Although the July 30 opening-night performance was not without its foibles and flaws, the pioneering production is a dream within a dream: A lovely staging that conjured up the magic of the familiar romantic fable for my two daughters and me, while imagining a world where people who don't communicate in the same way can still find ways to understand each other, if they have the kindness, willingness and resources to bridge the gap.

Which version of 'Cinderella' is Lyric Theatre staging?

Although the 1950 Disney animated version is arguably the most famous, there are literally hundreds of variations of the Cinderella story dating back centuries. The legendary duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II originally created their musical theater rendition to be presented on television in 1957 starring a young, pre-"Mary Poppins" Julie Andrews.

The show was twice remade for television — in 1965 with Lesley Ann Warren and in 1997 starring Brandy and Whitney Houston — before the original Broadway production, featuring a new book by Douglas Carter Beane, opened in 2013 and went on to win the Tony Award for best costume design of a musical .

My daughters, Brenna, 14, and Kyla, 8, were almost as intrigued — and as likely to be momentarily bemused — by the differences in the story compared to the animated version and its 2015 live-action remake as they were by the use of ASL in the show.

How does the production of 'Cinderella' incorporate English, American Sign Language and supertitles?

The groundbreaking production of "Cinderella," which also includes a mix of deaf and hearing theater artists working behind the scenes on the creative team, was previously staged last year at the Zach Theatre in Austin. The show is designed to be equally accessible to hearing, deaf and hard of hearing audiences, as it fully integrates English and ASL.

The musical still features the memorable songs "A Lovely Night," “Impossible” and “Ten Minutes Ago," and about 90% of the show is sung, danced, and spoken in English, much like a typical musical theater experience.

The other 10% is performed in ASL without spoken English, most notably when star Sandra Mae Frank, who is deaf, performs Cinderella's classic princess "I Want" song , "In My Own Little Corner."

Capably conducted by Mary Brozina Wierick , the orchestra plays not in the pit but on stage yet unseen behind the show's backdrop. Lyric Executive Producer Ashley Wells said the rearrangement allows the deaf cast members to feel the vibrations of the music.

The production incorporates supertitles, like those commonly used in opera, to show the dialogue, lyrics and other details on a large screen above the stage. Ticketholders also can use the GalaPro mobile app , which provides captions on a user's smartphone.

Some scenes are only performed in either ASL or English with the supertitled captions, so the show is recommended for children ages 6 and older, since reading is required for some scenes. Honestly, though, it's "Cinderella," and most people know the story well enough to get the gist even if they don't catch every word.

A few of the performers use a mix of ASL and spoken English in the show, while others stick with one or the other. In some of the musical numbers, ensemble members sing in English the lyrics that would otherwise be sung by a character portrayed by a deaf actor using ASL.

It all comes together fairly smoothly, although the creative team was forced to adjust some lighting cues after several opening-night audience members mistook the house lights coming up during Act 1 as the signal for intermission, when the lights were actually meant to allow a deaf performer to sign with the crowd.

Who is starring in Lyric Theatre's new staging of 'Cinderella?'

Known for her performances in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 Broadway revival of "Spring Awakening" and in the 2018-2023 NBC series "New Amsterdam," Frank previously appeared in Lyric's 2016 staging of "Fiddler on the Roof" and 2018 OKC premiere production of "Fun Home."

Also the production manager for Deaf Austin Theatre , her expressive charisma makes her a welcome addition to most any cast. With choreography by Cassie Abate and Mervin Primeaux-O'Bryant and ASL direction by Kailyn Aaron-Lozano, Frank's beautiful sign-language rendition of "In My Own Little Corner " didn't need spoken words to capture the audience's imagination.

The musical numbers are consistently captivating. With his handsome voice and likeable manner, Lyric newcomer Trey Harrington takes on the role of uncertain Prince Topher, who is about to be crowned king but doesn't knows who he is or how he wants to rule. The co-directors told me that Harrington plays the prince as a CODA, or a child of deaf adults, which means he already knows ASL when he meets Frank's Ella. Unfortunately, the storytelling doesn't share that detail, and I wish it had been worked in, perhaps during the show's framing device in a contemporary library.

The prince's longtime adviser, Sebastian ( Lyric mainstay Mariah Warren ), with the help of his herald and right-hand man Lord Pinkleton ( Christopher Tester, a deaf actor who co-starred with Frank in Lyric's "Fiddler on the Roof "), keeps the young monarch in the dark about the injustices happening in the kingdom. Well-meaning revolutionary Jean-Michael (Gregor Lopes) wants to talk to the prince about how many of his poor subjects are losing their land, but Sebastian keeps him at bay.

Jean-Michael, along with local eccentric Marie (Primeaux-O'Bryant), have befriended tenderhearted Ella, who lives in her late father's home with her wicked stepmother, Madame (hilarious longtime Lyric performer Lexi Windsor ), and her two stepsisters: uncouth Charlotte (uproarious scene-stealer Ashley Mandanas ), who is hearing, and sympathetic Gabrielle (Krissy Lemon), who is hard of hearing and harbors a secret crush on Jean-Michael. Madame has cruelly nicknamed her stepdaughter Cinderella and relegated her to an unpaid servant in her own home.

The musical features most of the familiar hallmarks of the Cinderella story, including a grand masked ball designed to find the prince a bride, a magical Fairy Godmother (Primeaux-O'Bryant again) who converts Ella's ragged dress into a gorgeous gown complete with fancy glass slippers and turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage to take her to the ball, and a royal who falls for a compassionate beauty who conceals her identity and humble station, forcing him to take drastic action to track down his true love.

There's plenty of theater magic that gives the show its spellbinding charm, from the use of a rolling ladder dressed up as a giant for Prince Topher's introductory number “Me, Who Am I?” to ever-reliable Lyric costume designer Jeffrey Meek's cleverly devised Cinderella dresses that transform with a few twirls.

It's fitting that a story that emphasizes kindness has been selected for such a trailblazing production featuring deaf and hearing performers. My daughters were intrigued by the eloquent grace of the sign-singing and delighted by the notion of everyone getting to take part in a show devised to make space for all sorts of artists and audiences to take part in theater. As the song goes, "It's Possible."

'CINDERELLA'

• When: Through Aug. 4.
• Where: Civic Center, 201 N Walker.
• Tickets and information: https://lyrictheatreokc.com .

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Starring deaf and hearing actors, OKC theater's staging of 'Cinderella' is extra magical