"It makes you wish that the world could be as lovely as it looks"

 — Cinderella

I am currently directing Tokyo International Player's mainstage production of Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella.  The performance should have taken place in May 2020, but has been postponed until Spring 2021. I will also be the vocal director and lead costumer for the show.  This is my second time directing mainstage for TIP, my first show being Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Cinderella is folk-tale that exists in thousands of forms.  The version, most familiar in the English speaking world, is based on Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre, by Perrault.  This is the story that features the glass slipper, others feature a golden slipper.  I have always wondered why the slipper doesn't disappear when the clock strikes midnight, as the other elements of magic do, but I suppose magic can be quirky and inconsistent.  Like most modern renditions of fairy tales, some of the cruelty has been removed from Cinderella.  Most versions have her father dead, and not at home ignoring her abuse.  Aschenputtel, by the Brothers Grimm has the step-sisters mutilating their feet, to make the slipper fit, and also has doves that peck out their eyes - as a terrible form of punishment.  Thankfully the version I am putting on stage has less horror, but still keeps the themes of transformation and of the importance of being kind in a world that is often filled with harshness.


Karen Pauley


Marty Pauley


Dale Geyer


Shinji Kobata

Music Director

Karen Pauley


Rosie Tricks

Assistant Director

Jonah Hagans

Stage Manager

Joan Chen

© 2020 by K Pauley - celticstar