Dandini (character) swap. Dandini (character) Dandini is a character in the opera "La Cenerentola" by Rossini and also in the "Cinderella" pantomime. He is the male servant of the Prince (the principal male character: Don Ramiro in the opera, commonly Prince Charming in the pantomime). Dandini helps the Prince to meet the principal female character (known as Angelina or Cinderella) without her knowing that he is a prince. Dandini pretends to be the prince and the real prince pretends to be his servant. In panto it is often played by a young woman, who dresses similarly to the Principal boy for the
Pantomime to the marriage of the young lovers, she would transport the whole company to a grand final scene. Despite its visible decline by 1836, the pantomime still fought to stay alive. After 1843, when theatres other than the original patent theatres were permitted to perform spoken dialogue, the importance of the silent harlequinade began to decrease, while the importance of the fairy-tale part of the pantomime increased. Two writers who helped to elevate the importance and popularity of the fairy-tale portion of the pantomime were James Planché and Henry James Byron. They emphasized puns and humorous word play, a tradition