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Audition Guide: Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella 

Summerset 50: Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Audition sign-up here.

Audition guide by Randy Haldeman, Director

Auditions for this show are a fun and exciting way to meet new people and become involved in the Highland performing arts community. This guide is intended to provide you with important information to help you be your most successful at the audition.

Prior to Auditions

Here is a link to a page that will let you know what the show is about:

Cinderella (2013 Broadway version)

Dress and Appearance

This is like a job interview (kinda), so dress nicely.

  • Select clothing that reinforces your confidence. It should be flattering and comfortable.
  • Avoid bulky, loose clothing that might interfere with your movement and mask your physicality. Also avoid tight clothing which will limit your movement.
  • Wear comfortable, lightweight shoes rather than boots or athletic shoes.
  • Your hair should be held back away from your face.

Audition Day

You will be asked to complete an audition form that includes past stage experience and your schedule. During your audition, the directors will be considering you in the context of the play being cast — make the best first impression you can. The director will be listening to your vocal quality, assessing your stage presence and projection, and observing your movement. Be prepared to answer questions from the director.

 In small groups, you are going to cycle through rounds of Acting/Readings, Movement, Music Rehearsal, and Singing.

Acting/Readings – Limited to 60-90 seconds.

Actors are encouraged to use a short, prepared monologue. Alternatively, you may bring a rehearsed reading. Auditionees without a monologue will be provided with excerpts from the show and given the opportunity to prepare briefly before their cold reading. Afterwards, you may be asked to read for several different characters; being ask to read a certain character is not any indication of which role you may be cast in.

Below are several short excerpts from the script. Read through them and become familiar with the characters.

Movement

The choreographer will teach to you a short dance routine, and then observe you. Don’t worry, we know that not everyone has a dance background, but all auditionees will be expected to just make their best effort. We can certainly work with people who are not strong dancers, and people with limited mobility will be accommodated.

Music Rehearsal

Actors may bring their own music (again, limited to 60-90 seconds), provided they bring sheet music for the pianist. Otherwise, they may prepare a couple of the excerpts from the show. The music is linked below.

In either case, each auditionee should have an up-tempo piece and a contrasting piece ready to present; it does not need to be for the character you’re auditioning! You may be stopped while singing, it never means anything bad at all – we just have a very limited time to hear everyone.

Pre-recorded music is not allowed, nor is just singing something a cappella – part of what we are listening for is your ability to sing with a live accompaniment.

Download Sheet Music

If you require an alternative to sheet music .pdf files, please email randy.halderman@highland.edu.

Singing

Auditionees will step up to the piano when called and sing the music they rehearsed earlier. Sometimes, the music director will ask to hear a contrasting piece, oftentimes, not. Once again, it does not mean anything bad (or good) if you are asked (or not asked) to sing a second selection, it just means the MD already has a good understanding of your voice.

General notes

The entire experience will last about 2.5 hours, but you may not be performing that whole time. Auditioning is very hard work for the actors and the directors, and we absolutely want to see you at your best – we are so rooting for you!

 If you are not cast, please consider the number of factors that led to the director’s decision. Everyone who has ever auditioned, including your directors, knows very well the anxiety of auditioning and the pain of not being cast. In an academic environment such as Highland, most directors are willing to discuss their casting decisions with you, but please make an appointment to discuss it with them.

Thank you so much for your interest, and good luck!

Randy Haldeman, Director

Cast

Principal Cast (9-10)

Cinderella (Ella) – The kind and courageous heroine

Prince Topher – The charming yet uncertain ruler searching for purpose

Marie (Fairy Godmother) – A beggar woman who reveals her true magical identity

Madame (Stepmother) – Cinderella’s cruel and controlling stepmother

Gabrielle – Cinderella’s kinder, more thoughtful stepsister

Charlotte – Cinderella’s other stepsister, more comic and self-absorbed

Jean-Michel – A passionate revolutionary seeking justice for the people

Sebastian – The Prince’s corrupt advisor

Lord Pinkleton – The royal herald, announcing events in the kingdom

Ensemble (10-15)

Townspeople, knights, peasants, royal servants, town children and little ruffians, and ballroom guests.

Featured ballroom dancers for the ballroom and transformation sequences.

NOTE: Ensemble members may be doubling as puppeteers for magical elements.

Scripts

Charlotte & Prince

Charlotte-Prince

Scene Eight

The Castle Ballroom

[MUSIC NO. 09 “GAVOTTE”]

(The LADIES dance on. TOPHER enters. SEBASTIAN and LORD PINKLETON enter.)

TOPHER. Sebastian, honestly!

SEBASTIAN. Only two hundred women to go!

(The LORDS dance on. MADAME enters with GABRIELLE and CHARLOTTE. The gavotte begins. TOPHER and CHARLOTTE dance.)

CHARLOTTE. So which one is it?

TOPHER. Which one is which?

CHARLOTTE. Duh. The prince. Which is the prince? I mean come on?! What do you think I’m here for, the free food?

TOPHER. Well, a good time, a dance perhaps?

CHARLOTTE. Wrong answer! I got marrying royalty on my

mind. So which one is he here?

TOPHER. Well, maybe it’s me.

CHARLOTTE. (A moment of thought, then.) Not likely. You’re

no prince. You’re ordinary.

TOPHER. What makes you think I’m ordinary?

CHARLOTTE. We’re doing a gavotte and you can’t even keep the beat. When we get to the waltz, you’re gonna trip over your two left feet and land on your flat little bottom. End of discussion.

TOPHER. Hope to talk to you later.

CHARLOTTE. I’ve moved on.

(She crosses to LORD PINKLETON, grabs the mallet, and bangs the gong, walking away in disgust. MADAME pushes TOPHER’s next PARTNER away, placing GABRIELLE in her place.)

PARTNER. Hey!

Gabrielle & Ella

MADAME. (To her DAUGHTERS.) The only thing I have to comfort me after this disastrous evening is that the prince seemed so completely devastated when his dream date ran away.

(ELLA puts away the pianoforte.)

CHARLOTTE. Oh, it was hilarious! The powder room was full of yammering when we were leaving. Why did the girl run away? My feeling is that up close the girl was physically unappealing.

MADAME. To bed, my lovely daughters. Cinderella, you stay here and clean up this pigsty of a parlor. Why is there a pumpkin on the table? It makes no design sense.

(MADAME and CHARLOTTE exit.)

GABRIELLE. Is there anything else you would like to know,

Ella?

ELLA. No, it sounds like a really marvelous ball. I only wish

I could have been there.

GABRIELLE. How did you know all that happened at the ball

earlier this evening?

ELLA. I just…supposed it. Imagined it. Had a vision.

GABRIELLE. Interesting.

(Thrusts her right hand behind her own back.)

Quick, how many fingers?

ELLA. Two?

GABRIELLE. Three. Fascinating. Where’re your visions now?

ELLA. You’re being silly. You’re just picking on me just because I said the prince was wearing a white jacket and –

GABRIELLE. You didn’t say it and he was. Something’s going

on here.

ELLA. You’re being absurd. More than usual. I need to finish

up and…

(She takes a kettle from the fire.)

GABRIELLE. Let me help you with that.

(She grabs ELLA’s hand.)

Your hand is so callused and rough from work. Just like the hand of the woman I shook this evening. Who danced with the prince.

(ELLA pulls her hand back.)

ELLA. I don’t know what you’re –

GABRIELLE. It was you tonight. Wasn’t it?

ELLA. I –

GABRIELLE. It was you! How did you dance in glass shoes?

(ELLA gasps.)

[MUSIC NO. 18A “IT WAS YOU TONIGHT, WASN’T IT?”]

(ELLA runs out the door. GABRIELLE is right behind her. The interior of the cottage transforms back into the exterior yard.)

ELLA. You won’t tell the others, will you? Madame and

Charlotte?

GABRIELLE. No. Never.

ELLA. Are you mad at me that I stole the prince from you?

GABRIELLE. I will confess a secret to you. I never loved the prince. Or even liked him. There’s someone else that I want.

ELLA. How wonderful for you. Who is it?

GABRIELLE. Well, Madame hates him.

ELLA. Madame hating them doesn’t narrow the field. Who is it?

GABRIELLE. If I promise to keep your secret of the prince, can you keep my secret of my forbidden love?

ELLA. I can. And I will.

GABRIELLE. It’s Jean-Michel. The firebrand

ELLA. He is a good man. And seems angry for all the right reasons. 

GABRIELLE. He wants to change the world and make it a better place. You gotta love a guy like that.

ELLA. You may one day win Jean-Michel. But I will never win Prince Topher. If he saw who I truly was, he would have no interest in me.

GABRIELLE. That’s not true. He would love you for who you are.

ELLA. I don’t see how.

GABRIELLE. Well, if Madame ever saw me with Jean-Michel, why I shudder to think what she might do! Are you sure you can keep my secret?

[MUSIC NO. 19 “A LOVELY NIGHT (REPRISE)]

ELLA. I can. And you can keep mine. We shall have a secret.

That will make us –

GABRIELLE. Co-conspirators.

ELLA. Friends.

GABRIELLE. Sisters.

(ELLA and GABRIELLE hug. They look at each other and smile. They have bonded.)

ELLA. May we both find our loves.

GABRIELLE. And our lives.

THE STARS IN A HAZY HEAVEN

TREMBLING ABOVE ME,

ELLA.

DANCED WHEN HE PROMISED

ALWAYS TO LOVE ME.

GABRIELLE.

THE DAY CAME THROUGH,

ELLA.

AWAY I FLEW,

BUT ON MY LIPS HE LEFT A KISS –

GABRIELLE.

ALL MY LIFE TLI. DREAM OF THIS

ELLA.

LOVELY –

Jean-Michel

(ELLA opens the door. JEAN-MICHEL enters.)

JEAN-MICHEL. Hello, Ella!

ELLA. Well, hello, Jean-Michel.

JEAN-MICHEL. I am sick of hiding in the shadows like a fearful person.

ELLA. Would you rather see Madame?

JEAN-MICHEL. Hiding is nice.

ELLA. How are you this evening?

JEAN-MICHEL. I’m going out with Gabrielle and I’m wound up like a tick. Tonight, she and I will go to the green grocer and beg him for whatever scraps he might have, then we shall slave over a hot stove and serve a meal to the very poorest. I do hope she’s not expecting that much fun every night.

GABRIELLE. (Entering in a simple dress.) Good evening, Jean-Michel.

JEAN-MICHEL. Good evening, Gabrielle. I much prefer you in this simple attire. You no longer look like a carnival attraction.

GABRIELLE. You speak such kind words to me, all the day long. And what of the soup kitchen this evening?

(ELLA exits.)

JEAN-MICHEL. Our first responsibility is with the poor. Then we shall march to the palace steps and I shall speak with the prince. We only have one thing to worry about.

GABRIELLE. What’s that?

JEAN-MICHEL. That he’ll even speak to me.

GABRIELLE. Well, Ella might be a help, you know she’s

talked to the prince.

JEAN-MICHEL. What?! Ella talked to the prince?!

GABRIELLE. She went to the ball! They were talking about the kingdom and how to make things better. And tonight, she is going to the banquet!

JEAN-MICHEL. The world is upside down!! But don’t you know what this means? If she really talked to the

Madame, Sebastien, Charlotte, & Gabrielle

Scene Five 
Inside Madame’s Cottage

(ELLA tightens CHARLOTTE’s corset. CHARLOTTE squirms and groans.)

MARIE.

THE PRINCE IS GIVING A BALL!

(She exits.)

MADAME. (Entering with GABRIELLE.) Cinderella! When you’ve finished tightening delicate Charlotte’s corset –

CHARLOTTE. uhhh. I can taste my lunch.

MADAME. – we must move on to Gabrielle’s hair. It is beginning to look, I fear, like a Bavarian pretzel.

(ELLA exits.)

Cinderella! Cinderell-

(Stops and chuckles.)

Cinderella, it is a most amusing name. I crack myself up. She sits by the cinders of the fire, and her name is Ella. So I call her Cinder-ella.

(Becomes overcome with laughter, then says in her sigh.)

Why don’t I have any friends?

CHARLOTTE. Face it, Mama, you are well-versed in the art

of Ridicule.

MADAME. I do have a flair for it, don’t I, actual daughters? Watch and learn!

(ELLA re-enters.)

Cinderella, hurry, get dressed, get ready for the ball, you’re going to find a husband!

ELLA. Am I?

MADAME. Ridicule – who caught it?

CHARLOTTE. I did.

GABRIELLE. That’s terrible.

(A knock on the door.)

MADAME. Who can that be and at this hour? Everyone clear out of here while I get rid of this imbecile. Cinderella, get that dress on Charlotte!

(ELLA, GABRIELLE, and CHARLOTTE exit. MADAME approaches the door. Another knock.)

What brand of idiot would –

(She swings open the door. It is SEBASTIAN. MADAME’s affect changes to warm.)

Why, Sebastian, what an unexpected delight.

SEBASTIAN. Madame, I have but a moment. I invite you to hang upon my every word.

MADAME. Invitation accepted.

SEBASTIAN. Tonight’s ball shall be in masks. The prince will be in the white mask. What color mask will your daughter Gabrielle be wearing?

MADAME. Why, pink.

SEBASTIAN. If the daughter is anything like the mother, I think the pink mask and the white mask should meet and fall in love.

MADAME. Are you implying what I am inferring?

SEBASTIAN. Your daughter is all part of my master plan.

MADAME. You are brilliant.

SEBASTIAN. You are perceptive. I shall see you at the ball.

Together we shall make this so.

(Exits.)

MADAME. Come daughters, come!

(ELLA, CHARLOTTE, and GABRIELLE run on.)

Oh Gabrielle, my Gabrielle, just look at you. You too, Charlotte, but really look at Gabrielle! Cinderella, fetch the orange box.

[MUSIC NO. 05B “VENETIAN GLASS”]

Marie, Ella, & Jean-Michel

(He exits. The KNIGHTS pull out their swords and point them “onward” as they exit.)

MARIE. Thank you for saving my life, dear Ella. I shall return the favor.

ELLA. I didn’t do it to have a favor returned 

(She looks off in TOPHER’s direction.)

MARIE. I have a shawl here that only has a few holes and

smells of cabbage. You can wear it.

ELLA. Not necessary. What a handsome man that was, and so kind and generous.

MARIE. That is but not a man, that is Prince Topher, the slayer of giants and dragons. He has just returned to us from university. He is to be crowned king.

ELLA. That man? A world leader? But he appears to have a heart, mind, and soul, it can’t be. Marie, you’re crazy.

MARIE. Yes, I am. But that does not change the fact that he is our own Prince Topher and he has returned to be our ruler – look at your coin, dear.

ELLA. (Looking at the coin.) Why, it is him. From the left.

Such silly ears. And the crown doesn’t help things, he should wear a floppy hat.

(Both laugh warmly.)

Here Marie, please take this coin. Buy yourself something warm to eat.

(As she hands the coin to MARIE, JEAN-MICHEL, a wild-haired, bespectacled revolutionary, enters.)

JEAN-MICHEL. Why is it always the very poorest who are the most generous? It breaks my heart.

MARIE. Here is our Jean-Michel. He will spout gibberish now and bore us.

ELLA. (To MARIE.) Be nice. (TO JEAN-MICHEL.) Good day, Jean-Michel.

JEAN-MICHEL. And do you know why the poor are the kindest, Ella and Crazy Marie?

MARIE. No, but I have a feeling you are about to be most forthcoming.

JEAN-MICHEL. Because it is a corrupt system, with a smashed moral compass.

MARIE. You will forgive me if I just stagger about and mutter.

(She does so.)

JEAN-MICHEL. Today I will be going alone to the castle to protest the corruption that riddles our government! You must come with me!

MADAME. (Offstage.) Cinderella!

[MUSIC NO. 03 “PARADE OF PURCHASES (CINDERELLA MARCH)”]

MARIE. That is Madame, Ella’s stepmother!

JEAN-MICHEL. I shall shout to the prince! He will have no

choice but to listen!

MADAME. (Offstage.) Cinderella!

MARIE. You are in harm’s way!

JEAN-MICHEL. I have a vision for what this kingdom could be.

(MADAME enters, holding a small package. She is followed by a COURTIER carrying many packages.)

MADAME. Cinderella! Help me with my parcels this instant!

(ELLA goes to help the COURTIER.)

Cinderella, lazy stepdaughter, help me with MY package!

(ELLA scrambles to do so.)

Careful! Careful!! No one knows the extreme torture I am subjected to.

(Noticing MARIE and JEAN-MICHEL.)

I’m ignoring that. Charlotte, Gabrielle, come daughters, come!

(GABRIELLE and CHARLOTTE enter, beautifully dressed.)

GABRIELLE. We are here, Mama!

Sebastian & Prince

WILL MY LOVE COME HOME TO ME?

WILL MY LOVE COME HOME TO ME?

(From the shadows comes SEBASTIAN, clutching a stack of papers.)

SEBASTIAN. Honestly, sire. Three nights in a row you search? And here it is, four o’clock in the morning. It’s as if you are testing my good nature. The second that woman in white ran off – which we all must admit seems to imply she has a police record. The second she is gone, you don’t want to dance with any of the other girls.

TOPHER. Sebastian. Are there poor people in this kingdom who have had their land taken from them?

SEBASTIAN. If there were I would tell you.

TOPHER. Do they need our help?

SEBASTIAN. Everyone donated joyfully. Ignore this talk.

Where did you hear it?

TOPHER. The girl.

SEBASTIAN. I don’t know that she is to be trusted. Please come back to the castle, the work is piling up.

TOPHER. No, something isn’t right.

SEBASTIAN. As you say –

(Puts his hand out.)

The ring, sire.

TOPHER. Oh right, sorry. What are you stamping this time?

SEBASTIAN. Nothing, sire, hardly worth troubling your beautiful mind.

TOPHER. Let me read it.

SEBASTIAN. I should explain, before – 

TOPHER. I’ll read this – on my own.

SEBASTIAN. Your Future Majesty, let’s go back to the palace and allow me to draw up some coverage you don’t want to –

TOPHER. I’m reading this now. Thank you.

SEBASTIAN. But –

TOPHER. That will be all Sebastian. I’ll ask you if I need anything explained

(SEBASTIAN hands over the papers. TOPHER reads a bit. He sees something shocking.)

Oh…no.

(Reads more. Then stops.)

Sebastian!!

SEBASTIAN. Sire, I can explain –

TOPHER. How could you do this in my name?

SEBASTIAN. I am maintaining this life for you, without my watchful eye you should be a pauper, would you like that?

TOPHER. I want that girl, the one who talked to me. I want to talk to that girl.

SEBASTIAN. A troublemaker.

TOPHER. We’re having another ball, a banquet. And she’ll come to that!

SEBASTIAN. She won’t show, this is lunacy!!

TOPHER. She will come! We’re having a banquet tonight. And you are inviting everyone in the kingdom.

SEBASTIAN. Don’t forget who you’re talking to.

TOPHER. And don’t you forget who you’re talking to. Now we are having a banquet tonight and I am finding that girl!

SEBASTIAN. Very well, sire.

(Storms off. Then stops and turns.)

She won’t come. You don’t even know her name! And if she really thought you were worthy of all her high ideals, she would have stayed, wouldn’t she?!

TOPHER. A banquet!!

(He exits.)

[MUSIC NO. 21 “THE PRINCE IS GIVING A BALL (REPRISE)”]