This is the third in a multi-part series inspired by the hit movie musical Wicked–Part 1. The series will explore musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to Episode 83 of Contemplating Life. This is the third in a multipart series inspired by the hit movie musical Wicked–Part 1. In this series, we’ll explore my relationship with musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

In our last episode, we talked about how my mother introduced me to the joys of musical theater and show tunes. In that context, set your Way Back Machine for February 22, 1965. I was nine years old the night that CBS aired a musical special titled “Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.”

The Cinderella story has many variations throughout many cultures. The earliest known variant is the story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BCE and 23 CE, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt. The story as we know it today with the Fairy Godmother and the Glass Slipper was written in French by Charles Perrault in 1697 titled “Cendrillon ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre” or in English “Cinderella and the Little Glass Slipper.” See the linked Wikipedia article for more information about the various versions of the story.

The Rogers and Hammerstein musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale had been written specifically for television and not the Broadway stage.

Until I began researching this podcast, I thought the 1965 version was the original. However, my research uncovered the original version was shown live on March 31, 1957, and starred Julie Andrews. Until days ago, I had no idea it existed. The 1957 version was broadcast in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones live in color and in black-and-white. A black-and-white taped version was shown in the Pacific time zone. It was never re-aired.

Although a soundtrack album was released the day after the program aired, it was thought all video recordings had been lost. However, in 2002, a black-and-white kinescope of the March 17 full dress rehearsal was rediscovered. It was restored and issued to DVD. It was also shown on PBS in December 2004 as part of their Great Performances Series. It features a 2002 introduction by Julie Andrews. It is available for free on YouTube. A link is provided in the description. I highly recommend watching at least that introduction and a few minutes of the show just to see young Andrews’ performance. See also the linked Wikipedia article covering the work’s complete history in all its various incarnations.

But let’s get back to the version in question – the 1965 version I saw as a child. This version introduced Leslie Ann Warren in the title role. It also starred Walter Pridgen as the King, Ginger Rogers as the Queen, and Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother.

In one of the early scenes, Cinderella sits alone by the fireplace on a small wooden chair and sings…

She then describes all of the wondrous things she imagines she might do if she could travel the world to exotic locations and have great adventures.

As a nine-year-old kid with a vivid imagination, an appreciation of Broadway music, a science fiction fan, and sitting in a wheelchair, this sad little ballad moved me more than any music I had yet heard in my young life.

I knew what it was like to sit in my own little corner in my own little chair and dream about impossible things.

Did I say “impossible?” Remember that word while I further set the context of the times.

The United States had recently concluded Project Mercury, which consisted of two suborbital and four orbital missions that sent men into space. A charismatic young president had committed us to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade in a race against the Soviet Union. Project Gemini would put a two-man capsule into space the following month. Optimism that Project Apollo would succeed in the lunar goal by the decade’s end was quite high. Live television signals were routinely being transmitted around the world via satellite. The computer revolution was already underway, even though I didn’t know the details, such as the introduction of the minicomputer, the PDP-8, that year. Also that year, Lawrence Roberts connected two computers over a telephone line to create ARPANET – the precursor to the modern internet.

In short, the word “impossible” was being erased from the English language.

Furthermore, I was reading books like “Tom Swift and His Rocket Ship” and “Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint”–my first science fiction stories.

Unlike the alleged purveyors of infallible truth known as the Holy Roman Catholic Church, under which I had been indoctrinated, I was discovering that scientists were more adept at answering my difficult questions to my satisfaction.

In that context, in the next scene, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother arrives to grant the young maiden her heart’s desire. She will get to go to the Prince’s Ball. But when Cinderella protests that such dreams are impossible, Fairy Godmother sings…

After the Fairy Godmother works her magic and they are en route to the Ball, they reprise the song, but the word “impossible” is replaced by “it’s possible.”

I’m unsure if it’s ironic or hypocritical that someone like me, who considers themselves so rational and scientific, could be enchanted by a fairy tale that makes fun of sensible people. Although the story entirely depends on supernatural forces, at its core, Cinderella is about being a dreamer and not setting artificial limits on what one can achieve. As a person with a disability, I already live with significant limits. It’s counterproductive to impose additional artificial limits of expectations on myself. Dreamers who see unlimited possibilities are not incompatible with rational scientific exploration. In fact, they are the core of scientific pursuits.

Renowned science fiction author and futurist Arthur C Clarke is known for a trio of axioms in which he discusses the impossible. These have come to be known as “Clarke’s Three Laws.” They are,

While watching Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother mock the word impossible, I believed in the magic of science and technology. Impossible things were indeed happening every day in my life.

Case in point, weeks later, I would be given my first motorized wheelchair. This amazing piece of technology meant that my own little chair was no longer stuck in my own little corner. The idea of forming my neighborhood to play with my friends rather than being dependent upon them to come to me seemed like an impossible dream. Perhaps that’s why it was one of my favorite songs to play on the organ, as I described last episode.

Let’s talk for a moment about the genius talent of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.

Can we marvel at the brilliance of rhyming “of course is” with “horses?”. Simply amazing.

Wikipedia reports this version of Cinderella was shown eight times between 1965 and 1974. I must’ve seen most of these re-airings because I learned many of the songs inside out, even though I didn’t purchase a VHS copy until many years later. Of special note were the love songs between the Prince and Cinderella at the ball. These songs were significant to me throughout my puppy love romance with Rosie Shewman from 1967 through 1974.

In the song “Ten Minutes Ago,” the Prince and Cinderella sing of the joys of love at first sight.

Those of you who have heard Episode 19 of this podcast know how I was smitten at first sight by that blonde-haired, blue-eyed 12-year-old beauty Rosie in seventh grade. That irrational enthusiasm for a beautiful total stranger is embodied in that song.

Later at the ball, Hammerstein again illustrates his brilliance as a lyricist when Cinderella and the Prince ask one of the most profound questions about romantic relationships that you will ever find in musical theater. (Or anywhere else, for that matter.)

That musical question has haunted me about my relationship with every woman I’ve ever loved.

Let’s refer again to one of my favorite science fiction authors, Arthur C Clarke, who provides his take on the question. Clarke is more known for his hard science stories, yet on one occasion, he waxes philosophical and makes a brilliant observation about loving relationships. In his 1951 story, “The Road to the Sea,” he said, “The person one loves never really exists, but is a projection focused through the lens of the mind onto whatever screen it fits with least distortion.”

The entire topic of the tension between reality and perception is one that we will probably explore in future episodes.

Before we wrap this up, I should note that this musical was also remade in 1997, starring pop singer Brandy in the title role. It featured Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother, Bernadette Peters as the stepmother, Whoopi Goldberg as the Queen, and Victor Garber as the King. Despite this all-star cast of some of my favorite performers, this version didn’t appeal to me the way the 1965 version did. I think I had so many nostalgic feelings about the 1965 version that a remake didn’t meet my expectations.

This entire discussion of Cinderella is just another example of how fantasy, musicals, and fairy tales provide us with rich inspiration as we continue contemplating life.

In our next episode, we will take our first journey to Oz courtesy of the 1938 classic film The Wizard of Oz. Only with that background and context can we appreciate the 2024 musical film “Wicked Part 1” and the origin of the alleged Wicked Witch, Elphaba.

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