This visual style also makes it easier to interpret the story symbolically. Knowing instantly who is the right one for you makes sense in this universe, whereas in ours it usually takes a wee bit longer.

Also adding to the sensuous and festive visual feel are the flowing costumes and abundant hair that adorn much of the ensemble, giving a sumptuous Renaissance Festival feel to the large ensemble scenes and numbers.

While the underlying fairy tale requires that we accept on faith that Cinderella and Prince Christopher are destined for each other, this version of the story fortunately has the Fairy Godmother cautioning Cinderella to not rely too heavily on "guardian angels and fairy godmothers." She should intead use her dreams as a starting point for taking action to achieve what she wants in life.

This version at least tries not to encourage young women to do nothing with their life but wait for a man. It doesn't succeed completely, but at least it attempts to be less about waiting for a man, and more about Cinderella's determination to use her imagination to (in some sense) escape her situation until an opportunity to escape it for real happens.

And while, alas, given the nature of the underlying fairy tale there is little that can be done to address the question as to whether a girl should really be dreaming of marrying a prince, in this version the audience can see early on that Christopher is a young man of good character. One who doesn't want anything to do with any of the (many) women who want him simply because he is the prince, and is instead, like Cinderella, dreaming of true love.

Even in this magical world, however, fundamental to our willingness to believe that these two could almost immediately fall in love is the talent of the actors who play the leads. Fortunately, both are outstanding in making us believe this, and further that they are meant to be together forever.

As Cinderella, Julie Hermann is instantly loveable from the moment she emerges from the haze and sings her opening number "The Sweetest Sounds", thanks to her sweet, beautiful voice, appearance, and demeanor. Even more moving is her rendition of "In My Own Little Corner" where she sings (and, through skillful dance, acts out) Cinderella's fantasies of all the people she could be and places she could go, from an Egyptian princess to a safari hunter. (And later, at the end of "A Lovely Night" she also gets to literally show off the full operatic range of her voice.)

As Prince Christopher, Stephan Panek is also perfect, from the moment he appears and sings in the distance during "The Sweetest Sounds" (which turns into a duet with Christopher also expressing his desire for someone special to love, though only the audience can see and hear him). Panek and Hermann are great together in all of their scenes and songs, particularly "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"

Portraying with great chemistry the deep, long-term love and affection that the King and Queen have for each other are Bruce Weise and Maragh Quinlan. They are great together, especially in their number "Boys and Girls Like You and Me". Weise also handles the comedic aspects of his character with flair (the wine of my country is beer!).

Quinlan tenderly conveys love and concern for her son Christopher in their song together where she makes him examine how deep his love for Cinderella truly is. Whether his interest in the girl he just met is genuine, or he's reading too much into a woman who all he really knows about is that she is beautiful and a good dancer. The scene ends in a touching manner as they, and we, get the sense that she has conveyed to him an important lesson, no matter whether he finds the girl or not.

Much of the comedy is provided by the stern Stepmother (Kathie Comella) and delightfully over-the-top stepsisters Calliope (Christy Kley) and Minerva (April M. Martinez). All portray well the comic aspects of jealousy (and wanting to get married too quickly and for the wrong reasons), with genuinely funny specifics such as Kley's "melodious" laugh and Martinez's in-your-face delivery of the one-liners. They all sing and dance well too, as demonstrated in "A Lovely Night".

In fact, despite the many, many jokes in this version of the story (some of which are too familiar to inspire much laughter), the biggest all out, no-holds-barred belly laugh of the evening is actually provided by Comella's momentary 'happy dance' during "A Lovely Night", which shows us a much lighter side to the character, giving her more dimension, without detracting too much from her basic character. (This is, after all, a comedy.)

Also providing great comedy and song is Harold the Herald (Darrin J. Fall). Decked out in feathered tri-corner hat and black-rimmed coke-bottle lenses, Fall delivers his comic lines with expert timing and delivery, and sings "The Prince is Giving a Ball" with a voice and manner that is simultaneously both strong and appropriately nerdy.

Kyle McCoy as the yellow-stocking wearing Lionel and Paul Lockwood as the Chef, Minister, and Coachman also perform their mostly comic roles with great skill.

And as the Fairy Godmother, Laurie Gibson sings the signature song "Fol-De-Rol" with appropriate frustration at Cinderella's initial over-reliance on others, and "Impossible" & "It's Possible" with appropriate hope and joy. She is also very good in the surrounding dramatic dialog with Cinderella.

Despite the emphasis on comedy and the striking visuals, the show has a lot of great, catchy songs. In addition to the aforementioned ballads and other numbers, "Impossible" is particularly memorable and well done.

There isn't a weak performance in the cast. Even the ensemble is appealing and of good voice and skilled dancing ability. In fact, they provide another enjoyable aspect to this show for those adults who may not be as interested in the music (as well as those that are): A sexy high-heel theme permeates the production, from the royal servants who cater the feast for the ball (dressed in white jackets, red berets and scarves, dark stockings and high heels as they sing and dance the especially well choreographed number "Your Majesties") to the horses that pull Cinderella's coach (dressed all in white, including horsehead and mane, save for the golden unicorn and yes, you guessed it, black high-heels).

In addition to the aforementioned, credit for the quality of this production goes to director Virginia Zymonas (who also designed the wigs), choreographer and set designer David Lindquist, scenic artist and set dresser Darrin J. Fall (multi-talented be he), costumer Bernice Ferraro of Fantasy Festival, and lighting designer Rick Amundsen, as well as of course producers Kathie Comella, Elaine Riner, and Brian Sager.

The only significant detraction of the production is the lack of a live orchestra -- which is not to detract in any way from Tom Taylor's excellent four-piece band. Yet there is no way a couple of instruments and synthesizers can have the same sound and feel as an orchestra, and thus the music of this production is alas not as sensuous as the visuals and singing. Further, at times the sound system seemed to distort the music and voices more than amplify them, though this may be a factor only in certain parts of the house or simply due to opening-night glitches.

Despite these factors, however, just as Cinderella and her step-family sing of their intent to dream of their night at the ball forever, this "lovely night" of enchanting music, striking visuals, and comedy will likely remain in your heart for a long, long time.

Note: At the two Saturday matinees the role of Cinderella is played by Kim Kreisman.

"Cinderella" continues through April 29th at the Woodstock Opera House (Woodstock, IL). Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays. (No performance Easter Sunday.) (Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. April 14th and 21st.) Call (815) 338-5300 for tickets.