Brandy is putting on the glass slipper for a stroll down memory lane. The singer and actress, who starred in a remake of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” in the late ’90s, revisited the musical fantasy in a “20/20” special,which aired Tuesday, to markthe film’s upcoming25th anniversary.
Starring Brandy and the late Whitney Houston alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters and Jason Alexander, the TV movie drew in over 60 million viewers during its premiere on ABC in November 1997. The film also earned an Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction in 1998.
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Brandy became first Black actress to play ‘Cinderella,’ bonded with Whitney Houston
With her lead role in “Cinderella,” Brandy became the first Black actress to play the classic fairytale character onscreen. Houston played her Fairy Godmother.
“My dreams when I was a young girl (were) to be a singer, have my own band and meet Whitney Houston. That was it,” Brandy said during the “20/20” special. “I had no idea that my destiny would take me to a role (like) Cinderella, be the first woman of color to play her, and then for Whitney Houston to be my Fairy Godmother. You gotta be kidding me.”
Brandy said co-starring with Houston was part of the “real-life fairytale” of being cast in the film.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Brandy while watching a video of herself and Houston singing together in the studio. “And I’m nervous, but I’m not nervous because I feel like I can be myself around her and then she feels like she can be herself around me, and so this magic is happening.”
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Peters, who played Cinderella’s stepmother, said the chemistry between the then-teen singer and Houston was “just off the charts.”
“Brandy admired her so much, and Whitney was so loving to her,” Peters recalled. “What could be more perfect than that, than having your Fairy Godmother be someone that loves you and you look up to?”
‘Cinderella’ broke ground with diverse casting
The film, an adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1957 musical comedy, stood apart from its predecessor for its diverse casting.
“The idea of having Cinderella be a young Black girl at the time was an extraordinary idea,” said Alexander, who played Lionel in the film. “But then suddenly you have a Black woman as a queen, a white man as the king and an Asian man as the prince, and at first glance you go, ‘What?’ “
Peters said the representation provided by the film was groundbreaking, particularly for children.
“‘Cinderella’ was never done that way before, which was saying to young people that were watching, ‘This could be you. There’s a place for everybody,’ ” Peters said. “It’s a story for every little boy and girl of every color.”
‘Cinderella’ impact lives on
Despite being released nearly three decades ago, Brandy said the impact of “Cinderella” has been far-reaching. “That movie changed the way Black little girls believed in themselves,” she said. “I hear to this day, ‘I believe I can be a princess now because of you.’ “
The film’s racial diversity also struck a personal chord with Brandy, who said she “did not think (she) was beautiful” growing up.
“I thought I was ugly, and then I turned out to be the first Black princess,” she said. “That’s pretty mind-blowing.”
Debra Martin Chase, an executive producer on the film, said the progressiveness of the remake was not lost on Houston, who also served as an executive producer.
“It was one of the things she was most proud of in her career,” Chase said. “She totally understood the value, the importance, the significance of having a Black Cinderella.”
Main Image: Harper’s Bazaar
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