The right mix of people and props create magic on stage for Cinderella, where plenty of hocus pocus by the creative team gives adults something to watch as well.

[Times photos: Toni L. Sandys]
Members of the City Players get ready for a dress rehearsal of the production of "Cinderella," which opens at 8 tonight. From left, Robyn LeVine dress, while Christopher Strong fixes Katie Larsen's hair, and Nancy Metzger, right, finishes her makeup.

By EILEEN SCHULTE

CLEARWATER -- You might as well know the truth: Ruth Eckerd Hall has mice.

Four of them to be exact, and they have infested a backstage dressing room. They've also been seen on the stage.

But how did they get in? Did they chew through a wall? Buy tickets? Not quite. They were driven there by their moms.

Shandra Roiland, 10, one of the four mouse characters in the play, takes a water break after her first scene.

No need to set out cheese-baited traps: These are smart and talented varmints -- and cute to boot.

They're also young and bold.

And they have what few rodents have: a trainer, Patrice Pucci.

She is coaching them for their roles in the Clearwater City Players' production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, debuting this evening.

Before the first dress rehearsal, one of her charges, 8-year-old Tiffany Storey, was putting on her costume with the help of her mother Tuesday evening while other actors milled around, greeting each other and talking excitedly.

"I have to crawl," said the Dunedin Elementary School student of one of her three roles in the elaborate production.

And through the magic of theater, she also has to turn into a carriage horse to take Cinderella to the ball.

Her other duty is to hum.

"Cinderella is singing, and they have to hum because (mice) can't sing," Patrice Pucci explained.

Although it may appear to be, Cinderella isn't a child's play, according to Margo Walbolt, the city parks and recreation department's arts and community services coordinator.

Sure, the politically incorrect fairy tale of the princess, a prince and his efforts to slip the glass slipper on the unappreciated stepchild will transport some adults back in time to their preschool days, but this production is so jazzy, it will not be a bore, promised B.J. Pucci, the director and the Clearwater parks and recreation department's arts and community services coordinator. She is also Patrice Pucci's mom.

Gina Ferrante, playing Cinderella, waits for the technicians to get the lighting just right during Tuesday's rehearsal for Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," which opens tonight at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

"It's just a sassy little story with sophisticated comedy," the director said. "We are having trouble marketing it because people think it's a children's show."

But this show was written with both adults and children in mind. It debuted on television in the 1950s with Julie Andrews playing the lead role.

Because the production was meant for television, B.J. Pucci has found it has been a challenge to recreate it for the stage. But she likes the end product and is especially excited about the special effects the crew created.

"The godmother lights the fire with a wave of her hand. She does the same and flowers appear on the table," B.J. Pucci said.

But that's not all. The director said the godmother also walks through a wall, and she waves her arms and the back of the house disappears, and the audience sees a coach and the little mice -- and this is Tiffany's moment -- become horses.

Okay, Tiffany's role as the rodent may not be that demanding, but the roles of other, much older, cast members are, and B.J. Pucci needed a high-caliber cast. She said she got it.

"Some of them are professional-level actors," she said.

Like the woman who plays the queen, Joanie Sigal, a Clearwater resident and veteran actor who is a member of a small troupe called "Broadway and Beyond."

"It's a great production," said Sigal, who has never worked with the Clearwater City Players before. "You couldn't ask for a more charming prince, and the king is wonderful."

One of the most challenging aspects of the musical for B.J. Pucci is making the three society-climbing stepsisters appear, well, hideous.

"I (cast) three attractive ladies," B.J. Pucci said. "The hairstylist and (makeup artist) is working on (making them ugly)."

He is Christopher Strong, of Christopher's salon in St. Petersburg, and he was still working out his plan of action just prior to the first dress rehearsal.

"All will have as ugly hair as we can get," he said.

He also was mulling over whether to give one stepsister a bushy "unibrow" and another a very large, big-lip mouth.

As far as pure entertainment value, the Clearwater City Players seems to have a good track record. Last year's Hello Dolly won a Lary Award for best musical. (A Lary Award is considered the equivalent of a Tony for Tampa Bay community theater.)

Will this one win?

"I hope," said Walbolt, laughing. "Best costumes, best set design. . . . "

You never know. The paper mache roast pig and plastic lobsters used for the feast scene looked pretty darn real.

And the glass slipper? The prop director bought it at Wal-Mart. Don't tell Cinderella, but it's not really glass.

But "it looks like glass," said B.J. Pucci, with a grin.

If you go

The City Players' production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella will debut at 8 tonight at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. Other performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. This production is geared toward both adults and children, and has a cast of 71. Tickets are $12 and will be available at the box office. Free parking. For information, call (727) 791-7400.

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