Disney had a Cinderella Reunion Special and Brandy is reflecting on how special the role was to her. In the Rodgers and Hammerstein production, she brought the princess to life, with Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother. Millenial fans loved seeing the extended cast together again. It was a nice portrait of how diverse the cast was during the 90s. A lot of people got to see themselves in that role for the first time. The notion of that visibility is not lost on Brandy, she told ABC about how she processed working with one of her favorite performers.
“My dream when I was a young girl was to be a singer, have my own band and meet Whitney Houston. That was it,” Brandy explaiend. “I had no idea that my destiny would take me to a role [like] Cinderella, [or that I would] be the first woman of color to play her. And then for Whitney Houston to be my Fairy God Mother… you gotta be kidding me.”
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“I knew that this was so great for the world to see, especially Black people.” she added. “She represented a culture that is beautiful, and I just so appreciated that because that was so much a part of what I wanted to bring to Cinderella.”
In the special, Debra Martin Chase, executive producer also mentioned, “It was one of the things she was most proud of in her career,” Chase said while reflecting on Houston’s appreciation for the film. “She totally understood the value and the importance, the significance of having a Black Cinderella.”
“We’re delighted that the 25th anniversary of this landmark incarnation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is being celebrated on its original network,” Imogen Lloyd Webber, SVP at Concord Theatricals, said in a statement for The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s unforgettable score is truly timeless — still enchanting listeners 80 years after their partnership began and 65 years since their Cinderella first charmed the largest audience in television history.”
Disney+ posted this description of Cinderella. “At the stroke of midnight on Friday, February 12, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella will begin streaming exclusively on Disney+. The beloved televised movie musical stars Brandy in the title role and Whitney Houston as “Fairy Godmother” alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Natalie Desselle Reid, Bernadette Peters, Paolo Montalban, Jason Alexander, and Veanne Cox.”
Did you enjoy the Cinderella Reunion? Let us know down in the comments!
