Cinderella

Young Chang Konstantin Rassadin took liberties with his production of "Cinderella." The character of the cinder-girl turned princess, for example, carries her two slippers, one of which she drops while rushing home from the ball. It's practical. Tatiana Prokofieva, who dances the title role, can't very well stumble offstage wearing only one ice skate. So Rassadin, founder and artistic director of the St. Petersburg State Ice Ballet, modified the fairy tale a little.

Lolita Harper It is a night glorified in movies, trumpeted in magazines and feared by loving fathers everywhere: prom night. It is a night to dress up, be treated like a princess and cherish for a lifetime, said organizers of the Cinderella for Life program, which gives prom dresses to about 350 young women who cannot afford them. Nobody should be forced to miss such a special occasion because of financial difficulties, said program creator Jerri Rosen, also the founder and director of Working Wardrobes, which helps women dress for success.

Young Chang Two principal cast members for next week's American Ballet Theatre production of "Cinderella" at the Orange County Performing Arts Center know what it's like to be the stars of real-life fairy tales. For Marcelo Gomes and Ashley Tuttle, being in the ABT -- the royal kingdom of the ballet world -- is like becoming a prince or princess. There are five pairs of principal dancers doing the roles of Cinderella and Prince Charming in Orange County.

Theatergoers who have seen "Into the Woods" (the current attraction at Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse) a few times and are thirsting for a more traditional Cinderella story can avail themselves of the glittering original at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through Sunday. Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," a hipper version of the classic fairy tale etched into children's theater history decades ago by a fellow named Disney, is a show calculated to enchant the youngsters while entertaining their parents.

Orange Coast College's Dance Department will hold auditions at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31 for the college's May performances of "Fiesta Latina," an OCC dance and cultural heritage outreach program. The show tours county elementary schools and takes place onstage at the theater. Dancers selected for "Fiesta Latina" must enroll in an OCC dance class in the spring. Information: (714) 432-5506, Ext. 4. Classic Christmas tunes for the family "Home for the Holidays," a Mervyn's Musical Morning Family Concert, will be held at 10 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Young Chang If anyone can bring an edge, an electricity and a hip acerbity to the stereotype of Cinderella's fairy godmother, it's Eartha Kitt. She doesn't wear a tutu or hold a magic wand. Instead, Kitt's fairy godmother is robed in a glittery dress that's flimsy and surreal and gives the illusion that she's coming out of a tree. She's thin -- not assuredly chubby -- and a jokester with Cinderella. "She's teasing her, which is what I do anyway," Kitt said.

The social season on the Orange Coast is officially in swing. And what better way to dazzle the crowd than with a grand entrance in the perfect ball gown. Who said Cinderella was just a fairy tale? Cinderella lives, albeit perhaps with a slightly redefined version of Prince Charming in waiting. Regardless of the hair loss of the Prince, or worse yet, the tax loss of his investments in the dot.com global ventures arena, there is still time for redemption if the perfect gown is selected and purchased for the season to be worn by his fair lady.

Corona del Mar High School senior McKenzie Brown recently earned international recognition for her artwork. But she did not take a traditional route. She designed an image for a shoebox. Brown, 18, participated in contest called BOX IT UP! for retail website Solestruck and Jeffrey Campbell, a shoe designer, for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree. This week she found out she placed third. "I didn't even think I would make the top 10, so to make third was really nice," Brown said.

Deirdre Newman It's the day before opening night of Kaiser Elementary School's production of "Cinderella," and director Rachel Furman is running around putting out fires with the actor and the sets. Rachel handles the crises with a calm poise that belies her 16 years. The Kaiser alum and student at Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana stepped in to direct the Costa Mesa school's show after its drama director left. While she had directed a few summer shows, handling a cast of almost 200 youngsters was a new challenge.

A union of culture, history and international business infused an elegant dinner last Saturday evening in the dining room of Leatherby's Café Rouge at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Representatives of the Principality of Monaco, including the Hon. Magu y Maccario , consul general, joined executives from the Segerstrom Center for the Arts - led by Terry Dwyer and the marketing team from South Coast Plaza - to welcome invited guests for the West Coast exclusive performance of "Cinderella" by Les Ballets de Monte Carlo at the center.

Corona del Mar High School senior McKenzie Brown recently earned international recognition for her artwork. But she did not take a traditional route. She designed an image for a shoebox. Brown, 18, participated in contest called BOX IT UP! for retail website Solestruck and Jeffrey Campbell, a shoe designer, for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree. This week she found out she placed third. "I didn't even think I would make the top 10, so to make third was really nice," Brown said.

Editor's note: This corrects when Cinderellas for Life takes place. A Costa Mesa nonprofit seeks volunteers to play godmother to 500 young women for its upcoming charity event, according to a press release. In partnership with Autobytel and Caché, Working Wardrobes, which provides support to in-need adults and youth, is collecting prom dresses and accessories for its 10th annual Cinderellas for Life event March 12. The dresses and accessories will be gifted to the young women selected through Working Wardrobes' programs as part of a one-day series of motivational workshops.

My daughter just started playing AYSO soccer. She had two rounds of parks and recreation tot soccer under her belt and did so well we felt she was ready for the bigtime. But she's skipping a step — the coed team of mostly 4-year-olds — and going straight to a girls' team. A friend's dad is the coach and he had an opening on his squad. My daughter's 4, but the other girls are 5 or turning 5. Nevertheless, my wife and I figure she's ready, and can only get better playing with bigger kids.

Lured by the beauty of Orange County beaches and the chance to write in quiet, the Southern California Writers' Conference Los Angeles will stage its annual event in Newport Beach Sept. 24 to Sept. 26. "One reason we moved out of Los Angeles is that there are just so many distractions," conference Executive Michael Gregory said about what he called the "LA bubble," citing issues in the eight years prior with traffic and overly large venues in which participants got lost. "Orange County has this sense of distance from those distractions, so writers can concentrate on the things that really matter, which is their work.

JOHN DEPKO Editor's note: Today the Pilot presents an occasional feature, Reel Critics Double Take: two movie critics providing opinions of one movie. We all know the offbeat boxing movie "Million Dollar Baby" knocked out the competition to take the 2004 Best Picture award. Cynics might argue that win was the rationale for making "Cinderella Man," which looks like this year's top contender for the same honor. It's a more conventional fight film than "Baby," but the gritty true story at the heart of this drama gives it real-life punch.

Tom Titus According to the publisher of "Cinderella Waltz," playwright Don Nigro's mission was to "investigate the archetypical origins of the tale contrasting the familiar and charming Perrault version with the darker more ancient tale recorded by the brothers Grimm." Well, the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse has laid its hands on this wacky take on the classic fairy tale and done some investigating of its own. The result is a sterling example of what can be done with liberal doses of the F word.

Tom Titus When you think of religious fervor in 17th century Massachusetts, the first thing that leaps to theatergoers' minds probably would be "The Crucible." When you think of "Cinderella," that classic fairy tale invariably comes to mind. Well, these topics are the subject of two plays opening in Costa Mesa this weekend, but don't look for anything approaching traditional styling in either. South Coast Repertory's world premiere of Amy Freed's "Safe in Hell" is billed as a comedy focusing on real-life Puritans Cotton Mather and his father, Increase, while "The Cinderella Waltz" at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse offers a different, satirical slant on the girl with the glass slipper.

Lolita Harper It is a night glorified in movies, trumpeted in magazines and feared by loving fathers everywhere: prom night. It is a night to dress up, be treated like a princess and cherish for a lifetime, said organizers of the Cinderella for Life program, which gives prom dresses to about 350 young women who cannot afford them. Nobody should be forced to miss such a special occasion because of financial difficulties, said program creator Jerri Rosen, also the founder and director of Working Wardrobes, which helps women dress for success.

Coral Wilson It is a classic tale that has been passed down for generations about a little girl, her evil stepmother, a pair of glass slippers and a prince. It was a story about Ye Xian told in China during the Tang Dynasty. When the story spread into Europe, the magic fish became a fairy godmother and the girl's name was changed to Cinderella. The story was not forgotten -- could not be forgotten, because it is a story known all too well by children past and present.