Midnight: The Cinderella Musical

Music and lyrics by John Foreman & Anthony Costanzo. Book by Dean Murphy & Pip Mushin. Additional music and lyrics by Kate Miller-Heidke. Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, 5 & 6 June 2025

Midnight is a Fairholme College and Toowoomba Grammar School production, directed by Katrina Bailey and Sharonlee Mortensen, with musical direction by Wendy Burns. Producer Karen Hayward should be commended for selecting such a perfect work for combining the talents of these two exceptional schools for their biannual musical collaboration. The logistics of combining the creative energies of two schools must be challenging.

Great story-telling needs good character development and this show had it in spades. The back story of the main characters growing up was a great opportunity for young actors Clare Breay and Madeleine Brown (young Ellas) also Ruhan Bulchandani and Joseph Fernando (Young Princes) to showcase their talents. Mitchell Wilkes was convincing as the steadfast father figure throughout. Ebbeny Williams-Cherry was remarkable as Ella. She performed the role with conviction and delivered a truly angelic purity to the hymn “Why can’t I”. It was a soloist vocal highlight of the production. Ruben Kruger was the perfect embodiment of the somewhat naïve handsome prince. He portrayed a wonderfully humble character from the beginning and became the perfect match for our heroine of social justice. Lanu Faletau was a perfectly clever Madame Bellington, as her character revealed a conniving nastiness as her vile plan unfolded. Her two daughters (Annie Anderson and Mila Faletau) couldn’t have been more different in character yet were capable of the most astounding vocal harmonies. Indeed, the harmonies delivered by the entire cast and ensemble were exceptional and a real highlight of the production.

Two standout performances of the show were from Artharsh Gajaharan, (Andre) and Rupeni Baravilala (The King) who combined perfect timing with complete immersion in their characters to deliver wonderful comic relief to added to the engaging storyline. Ayesha Saleh obviously enjoyed her role as Fairy Godmother; her spirited performance was remarkably passionate. Isaac Whitcombe as the charismatic Mr Abernathy was well supported by his personal dance troupe.

Praise to the orchestra under Wendy Burns’s expert baton. They played the complex score well and added a brilliant, musical colour to a very bright production. Visually the show was quite clever, with minimalist sets which utilised the Empire Theatre’s excellent fly lines and comprehensive lighting potential. Karen Hayward (set design) and Georgia Meise (costume coordinator) should feel proud of their efforts to present a fresh and unified look and feel to create the fairytale world of Midnight. Further praise should also go to the sewing team for the great costumes which embellished (and survived) a show full of movement and energy.

Regarding movement, the choreography evident in this production was outstanding. “Once upon a time” was a fabulous number which really got the audience involved and this constant flow was evident throughout both acts of the performance. Overall, the heroes of this show were the storyline and the casting of the players. The retelling of this classic with a back story, shared so well by this talented group of creatives, was contemporary, positive and just the right tonic for today.

Evan Hollis

Photographer: Andrew Coates, Salt Studios