Madison Manning, a junior musical theater major, stepped into an iconic pair of shoes for her lead role in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” co-produced by Syracuse Stage and the Department of Drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Manning plays Cinderella in the production that runs through Jan. 5 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage. All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. while all matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 315.443.3275 or in person at the Syracuse Stage Box Office.
Manning shares insights into the production and her role.
What can audience members expect from this production?
They can expect a modern twist to it, especially because this is “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.” It’s not something that’s very complex in language, and it’s more contemporary in its scene work, general dialogue, blocking techniques and the demeanor to which we perform the show.
Besides expecting a contemporary aspect, they can expect a lot of beauty in the staging, projections, lighting and costuming. Regardless of if they’re following the story or listening to the singing, people will come in and enjoy getting to see such beauty and attention to detail in the visual aspect of it. They can expect to see a heartwarming story that visually, emotionally and mindfully has a lot of love, care and warmth put into it.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your performance?
I’m big on finding inspiration in multiple mediums of art. Most of it comes from other theater, a lot of film and TV, and a few years ago I got into reading a lot of young adult fantasy novels. Even though those stories can be different from the ones told in theater, just tapping into different mediums of storytelling has been a big inspiration for how to tell a story to specific audiences with specific material or storylines.
If it had to be a person, I draw a lot of inspiration from Patina Miller and Cynthia Erivo — Black, female artists that are not only talented but driven and know how to collaborate with other artists. I also draw a lot of inspiration from the faculty at Syracuse and my peers. When you’re in class, watching other people perform, whether there’s solo performances, duets and trios, or scene work, you learn from your peers because you’re constantly watching them grow.
What do you want to convey in the character?
In the original Disney movie, it literally says that Cinderella was abused, humiliated and forced to be a servant in her own home. Despite all of that, she woke up every single day with hope and optimism. She still showed the stepfamily gentleness and reverence in the face of their hatred and unjustified anger.
The biggest thing I want to convey about the character is that she’s not a damsel in distress and that her strength comes from her ability to choose kindness in the face of adversity. It’s much easier to be mean right back to somebody that’s being mean to you. It’s even harder to show them kindness, continuously show them love and make them a part of your life despite what they’ve done.
What’s the best part about becoming this classic character, Cinderella?
The best part, besides wearing beautiful costumes and telling such a fun story, is getting to inspire little boys and girls throughout the Syracuse area. When I was a phantom in “A Christmas Carol” [the Syracuse Stage/Department of Drama co-production] last year, I got to crawl up and down the aisles and look into the faces of people. For children’s matinees, there were a lot of Black and brown children in the audience. The first thing I thought when I got cast was, “How great is it going to be for those boys and girls to see themselves represented on stage, not just as a side character or someone in the ensemble but someone who’s playing the main lead.”
Adeera Harris ’25, my cast member who plays Grace, also pointed out that it’s such a blessing to not see the pigeonholed stereotype of the Black girls, the sassy sidekick or the mean girls; rather, you get to see People of Color in our cast play the prince, the princess, one of the step-sisters, ensemble members and the fairy godmother. You get to see so much diversity that I think will impact a lot of children. My hope is that they take away that things are still possible, and it’s possible for them to be a source of inspiration and encouragement for others.
What’s the most challenging part of this role?
The most challenging part is definitely the singing. After doing three previews, I’m still nervous about getting through all 50-plus shows with this score. It’s a very demanding role vocally in a way that I’m not used to. I would consider myself a belter, but this role requires me to use my reinforced mix, which I’m just now developing as an artist.
I didn’t come into college with vocal training. I did choir in high school but never one-on-one training for my vocal instrument, so I always felt a little late to the game in terms of singing. I knew going into this I would need to really prepare and know these songs like the back of my hand, so that even if I was sick or lost my voice and got it back two minutes before curtain, I’d be able to do the show.
What’s one thing you’ve learned about the theater industry or your craft from taking on this role?
You’re expected to do a lot of outside work prior to starting the production. For this show, I started a month in advance, learning the music and reading the script. I tried to come as memorized or as off the page as possible on day one. I wanted to be familiar enough with the material where I didn’t have my nose in the script, but I also wasn’t too practiced to where I was pigeonholing myself into this one way of doing the character.
I also learned something about myself in terms of how I like to lead a production. I chose to lead this production quietly. I didn’t feel the need to dominate the room or try to own the room like I was told I might have to do. I come in, and I lead by example and preparedness. When it’s not my turn to speak and it’s not my time to perform, I get out of the way so that other people can shine and do good work. I don’t want to inhibit that in any way by trying to be a loud leader. I want to lead by kindness, warmth and encouragement, kind of how Cinderella does.
What other projects are you working on?
Something I’m really excited about is my musical theater scene study class final exam. Emma Sucato ’25, who is a swing in our show and understudying the stepmother and Queen Constantina, and I are doing the song and scene from “Marry the Man Today” from “Guys and Dolls.” Fun fact, the teacher of that class is David Lowenstein, who plays King Maximillian in “Cinderella.” It’s been fun to have him as a teacher and perform with him.
As for next semester, I will be playing the lead in the New Works/New Voices program for a show called “Magia.” Something that’s awesome about Syracuse is that recently Kathleen Wrinn, one of our professors, started the program called New Works/New Voices where they look through hundreds of shows that look promising in terms of being produced later. We workshop them at our school. It’s a three-week process where we get to work with the lyricist and composer of these new shows. I’m also in the spring dance concert that we’re doing at the Stage. I am overjoyed to be able to do a little bit of dancing and then some singing and acting later that semester.