My favorite cast member in this incarnation of the Black Ensemble Theater’s annual production of The Other Cinderella was Stewart Romeo, who played the Page. According to his bio in the program, Romeo is a trained singer, actor and carpenter (and he’s funny and can dance). When I saw the carpenter credential, I wondered, given the family atmosphere of the theater, whether Romeo had been enlisted to build any sets. Sure enough, he’s listed in the program under set construction. It reminded me of Harrison Ford, who was a carpenter between early acting roles, and Alexander Godunov, who also danced a little during his career, showing off their carpentry skills while nailing their parts in the barn-raising scene in the movie Witness.

The theater’s family atmosphere continued after the show when the actors went into the lobby and formed a receiving line for the patrons. It was like being at Cinderella and the Prince’s wedding, though, disappointingly, there wasn’t any cake. I was a little embarrassed because I didn’t bring a gift (you have a year, right?), but I didn’t bring one to Tony and Tina’s wedding either.

Also embarrassingly, this was my first time at the theater’s current location – they moved into it in 2011. It’s a nice building, but some things haven’t changed. The indefatigable Jackie Taylor is still running it all as the CEO, and, in addition to having written The Other Cinderella, including many of the songs, over 40 years ago, she’s listed as the producer, director, costume designer, and, why not, understudy for this production.

Though the plot is essentially the same, this isn’t Disney’s or the Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella, or Strabo’s Rhodopis. No brothers from the hood there. And Taylor keeps it updated. I’m pretty sure the original production didn’t include references to Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, and social media.