Reviews: What Do Critics Think of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bad Cinderella? | Playbill

The Verdict Reviews: What Do Critics Think of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bad Cinderella?

Linedy Genao stars in the title role of the West End transfer at the Imperial Theatre.

Linedy Genao and cast of Bad Cinderella Matthew Murphy

The reviews are rolling in for Bad Cinderella, Andrew Lloyd Webber's first new Broadway musical since 2015's School of Rock. The musical began previews February 17, with an opening night set for March 23.

Bad Cinderella features a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emerald Fennell, music by Lloyd Webber, and lyrics by Tony winner David Zippel, reimagines the classic fairytale to center around a damsel—but this one is not in distress. "I'm not your Cinderella. I'm Bad Cinderella," teased leading lady Linedy Genao at a press event announcing the production last year.

Genao leads the cast in the title role, alongside Carolee Carmello as Stepmother, Grace McLean as Queen, Jordan Dobson as Prince Sebastian, Sami Gayle as Adele, Morgan Higgins as Marie, Christina Acosta Robinson as Godmother, Cameron Loyal as Prince Charming, and Savy Jackson as Cinderella at certain performances.

READ: From 1776 to Bad Cinderella, This May Be Carolee Carmello's Championship Season

The musical's ensemble comprises Mike Baerga, Raymond Baynard, Lauren Boyd, Tristen Buettel, Kaleigh Cronin, Josh Drake, Ben Lanham, Ángel Lozada, Mariah Lyttle, Sarah Meahl, Larkin Reilly, Julio Rey, Lily Rose, J Savage, Dave Schoonover, Tregoney Shepherd, Paige Smallwood, and Aléna Watters. Rounding out the company as swings are Alyssa Carol, Gary Cooper, Michael Milkanin, Robin Masella, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Lucas Thompson; and understudy Christian Probst.

Read the reviews here.

AMNY (Matt Windman)

Bloomberg (Chris Rovzar)*

Broadway News (Brittani Samuel)

CitiTour NY (Brian Lipton)

The Daily Beast (Tim Teeman)

Deadline (Greg Evans)

Entertainment Weekly (Emlyn Travis)

The Guardian (Lauren Mechling)

The New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)

The New York Times (Jesse Green)*

New York Daily News (Chris Jones)*

New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck)

New York Sun (Elysa Gardner)

New York Theatre Guide (Amelia Merrill)

The Observer (David Cote)

Queerty (Christian Lewis)

TheaterMania (David Gordon)

TimeOut NY (Adam Feldman)

Vulture (Jackson McHenry)*

Variety (Naveen Kumar)

The Washington Post (Peter Marks)

The Wrap (Robert Hofler)*

*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.

Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.

Bad Cinderella features additional book material by Alexis Scheer, choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, orchestrations by Lloyd Webber, U.S. music supervision and direction by Kristen Blodgette, U.K. music supervision by David Andrew Wilson, music coordination by David Lai, scenic and costume design by Gabriela Tylesova, lighting design by Bruno Poet, sound design by Gareth Owen, and hair and wig design by Luc Verschueren.

Bonnie L. Becker is production stage manager, and casting is by Tara Rubin Casting's Claire Burke and Kevin Metzger-Timson.

Producing the work's Broadway bow are No Guarantees, The Really Useful Group, James L. Nederlander, The Shubert Organization, Lynda Carter, Peter May, Wendy Bingham Cox, and André and France Chrétien Desmarais, with Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and Jillian Robbins serving as executive producers.

READ: Bad Cinderella’s Leads Started Off As Covers; Now They Have the Keys to the Kingdom

The Broadway run follows a short-lived West End premiere (then titled simply Cinderella) that began performances in June 2021 even as COVID restrictions still in place limited audience sizes to 50% of the Gillian Lynne Theatre's usual capacity. Following an opening night postponed by cases of COVID within the company, the musical ultimately shuttered June 12, 2022, with Lloyd Webber describing the decision to open the show while the industry was still dealing with the pandemic a "costly mistake."

Visit BadCinderellaBroadway.com.

See Broadway's Bad Cinderella Meet the Press

 
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