PROLOGUE

Dressed in rags, Cinderella is gathering kindling in the woods and stops to visit her parents' graves at the Great Tree. She sees a girl running through the trees and realizes that it is her as a young child. The magic of the Great Tree creates a vision of her mother and father dancing with her younger self, and she recalls her mother’s death. Her father remarries and she gains a stepmother and stepsisters. Shortly after, her father also dies. As they dance away through the forest, Cinderella begs the young girl not to go. Young Cinderella tells her older self that everything will be alright in the end, and then she dances away.

ACT I

Cinderella wakes up and begins to tidy the house. Her stepmother and stepsisters rise for the day and treat her poorly as she works. Everyone is excited by an invitation for the family to attend the Prince’s ball. Then, a beggar woman appears at the door and asks for food. The stepmother refuses, but Cinderella is kind to the woman and offers her bread.

The stepmother and stepsisters begin to get ready for the ball – trying on dresses and taking a dance lesson. Cinderella asks if she may go to the ball, but they say no. After the stepmother and stepsisters depart for the Prince’s ball, Cinderella is heartbroken that she cannot attend. The beggar woman returns and reveals herself as Cinderella’s fairy godmother. She invites the flora and fauna of the forest to celebrate and help Cinderella get ready for the ball. Cinderella’s fairy godmother tells her that she must return when the clock chimes midnight. A carriage arrives, and Cinderella is off to the ball.