Cinderella steps into 1000th ‘shoe’

Cinderella steps into 1000th ‘shoe’
Deccan Herald

Thirty years have gone by, and the glorious fairytale of the Cinderella team continues. What started as a musical to appease young minds in the late 1970s, has become a legendary Kannada ballet today, resulting in Prabhat Kalavidaru hosting Cinderella a 1000th time...

Thirty years have gone by, and the glorious fairytale of the Cinderella team continues. What started as a musical to appease young minds in the late 1970s, has become a legendary Kannada ballet today, resulting in Prabhat Kalavidaru hosting Cinderella a 1000th time.

A family affair, where more than half the cast were relatives, Cinderella now has several newcomers, most of whom were not even born when the ballet was featured first.

The team, however, has two loyalists, who despite an overhaul of the entire ballet have stuck on, completely enamoured by not just the play but also by what the family that founded the troop has to offer.

Recounting her experiences, Shantala M S, who graduated from playing a fairy to Cinderella to a Fairy Queen said that she still felt like a newcomer.

“Nothing seems different here because the passion for the play to live on by people who created it has not ebbed even a little. I have played the Fairy Queen in over 650 shows. Not once have I been bored,” she said, adding that though she liked playing the role of Cinderella more, playing Fairy Queen had been more rewarding.

“I love children, and there is nothing more joyous to me than the little ones in the play looking up to me to wave my magic wand and grant them their wish,” she said.

Mr Subbanna who is now playing King in the musical, was a soldier when he started off with Cinderella. “This is the third generation that I am working with now, and the bond with the family and the play continues to strengthen.

“Though many artistes have come and gone, I cannot get myself to leave. I will do any role that I am given, as there has never been room for anybody to feel threatened here,” he said.

Another aspect that kept him glued to the team was the bisibele bath and gasgase payasa that is served for lunch during rehearsals, he added.

T G Venkatesh Achar, Secretary of Prabhat Kalavidaru, and son of Gopinath Dasa, who was the founder of Kalavidaru, said the ballet should have completed its 1000th show in September 2004.

“Sadly, we lost our uncle the same year, and we made a conscious choice of not hosting any functions for another year,” he said.

He also said that his father had incorporated a few scenes and characters which are not there in the original tale.

Rakshash character

“For instance there was never a rakshash, or characters like Drushtidevi and Shabdadevi in the original. He let his imagination run while he was writing this musical, keeping in mind the Kannada audiences all along,” he added.

The musical in its new look is being featured for special invitees on January 29 at Ravindra Kalakshetra at 6.30 pm. However, ticketed shows will be hosted in February.