Me and My Glass Slippers

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, in the castle of Nicanor Abelardo, I donned beautiful clothes. Just for that time, I pretended to be rich. Just for that moment I tried to speak intelligently. Just for a second, I stripped myself of my usual rags and slipped on my glass slippers…

Well, not exactly. They were made of leather and not of glass. I had to buy new shoes at the urging and persuasion of my friends. Plus, I bought new shoes just in case I’d have to run fast up and down the stairs and lose my shoes in between flights at which time, someone might pick it up and look for its right stinking feet.

5:00pm. We were already at the CCP area excited to watch the 8pm-showing of Cinderella. Had a quick light dinner first while looking at the different people obviously there for the same purpose.

By 7:00, we were ready to wait for us to be allowed entrance to the theatre. It was the 2nd of August. And this was how my one-night fairytale started.

The curtains opened with Cinderella wiping the floor with a rag… and a kid wailing “Mama, weewee! Mama, weewee!” twelve times I think. Then… enters my most favourite character for the night… the fairy godmother. Her delivery of lines had spunk with a touch of ghetto. She was refreshingly funny. She had attitude which gave life to most scenes.

A little later on, my curiosity about the evil step sisters and the step mother was satisfied with the entrance of two annoyingly funny characters and a baritone-voiced step mom. They were a funny bunch all through out the play and their costumes were sights to behold.

“The prince is having a ball!” I loved how they choreographed their dance and some funny antics done along the way. The geeky tall lanky girl caught my eyes. She was like a child like we all were that night, tallest as she may have been.

Though someone commented that the Prince Charming isn’t really charming at all, he did deliver well, a bit dramatic though with an accent that I can’t really pin point. Now, the King and Queen were a different matter. They were as interesting as any other lead. It was during their king-queen moments that I first heard the audience go “awwwww.” It was with them that each and everyone’s fairytale materialized… a love that surpassed age and time.

“Impossible…” It was how the song started to prelude to my most awaited scene. The Magic. How the pumpkin changed into that beautiful carriage was how I pictured it done, almost the same as that in the cartoons. The scattered lights, the outline of the carriage, and then the carriage itself… the scene simply left me in awe. I waited on how Cinderella would change into a beautiful gown. But to no avail, there were no flying gowns, no blinding lights, just a switch of characters with awkward wigs… my one and only little disappointment. Though I guess everyone had mix emotions on how the gown should look like.

Music, that one thing that gives soul to a musical play. My portkey to my little world of fantasy… my non-existent musical career (though I could swear hearing applause during bath time).

Second time I heard people go “awwww” was when one song went “Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you…”, “Do I love you because you are perfect or are you perfect because I love you.” It just hit home. (Oh did I just murder the lyrics? I hope not.)

The songs were wonderful, and the orchestra was a very commendable team. They awakened the Disney kid in me. It felt like home. And with all the “awwwwws” I muttered, the last was when the orchestra gave its last note. And then from a kid, I was once again an adult, a very satisfied adult.

And before standing up from my chair, I checked if I lost a shoe. I didn’t. But I did gain a very memorable experience worth going over and over again. I didn’t loose a shoe for someone to fit it in my stinking feet, but I did get myself a poster (ok ok, forgive me, I was broke after this and could only afford a poster for my collection of plays, a cd would be nice though… ahem ahem). Remember…

“Impossible things are happening everyday”