Theatre Woodstock’s Cinderella wins two WODL awards

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

The success of Theatre Woodstock’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella continues long after its run in February. The musical secured two awards from the Western Ontario Drama League (WODL).

The group’s wins include Becky Tanton earning the Best Newcomer award for her portrayal of Charlotte and Kristin and Jocelynne Klein earning the Award of Merit Behind the Scenes for their design of the fairy godmother transformation dresses. The mother and daughter team designed three transformation dresses. Jocelynne came home four weekends from her studies at the University of Windsor to provide input for her mom, and she designed the purple ballgown.

The Fairy Godmother dress was an overcoat that would fly off and reveal a cloak as she spun around. The cloak incorporated rags from each cast member’s costume.

“She's the fairy godmother to all, so we wanted to incorporate that,” Kristin said.

The Kleins got a team together to work on the rest of the more than costumes to be made or altered for the rest of the cast.

"We had a very short time frame to get this all done,” Kristin said. “Everybody was really great and helped out."

Emil and Shannon Wijnker, director and musical director of “Cinderella,” said the Kleins came on board after Rick Klein, who played Sebastian, suggested that his wife Kristin, would be interested in creating the costumes.

“Not only did Kristin step up,” the Wijnkers said to the Woodstock-Ingersoll Echo. “But she assembled a team, turned her house into a costume factory, and got straight to work designing our three most complicated costumes. The results were so incredibly impressive, with the magical transforming costumes being many of our patrons' favourite parts of our show.”

Kristin made kids' costumes from the time Jocelynne was growing up, and Jocelynne started designing clothes for herself and her friends during the pandemic. It was the first time they created costumes for a theatrical production. Both said they were surprised to win the award.

“I was not expecting to get it,” Jocelynne said. “Especially when I saw some of the other nominations because it was an award of merit, so it was for behind the scenes and a lot of people we were up against had some really cool things as well. To hear that we got it was a fun and unique experience."

The mother and daughter enjoyed working on the Cinderella costumes together and will make costumes for Theatre Woodstock’s production of Norm Foster’s A Snow White Christmas.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Kristin said of designing “Cinderella” costumes. “To be able to share this with my daughter. It was very cool. It was a nice bonding time.”

"It definitely would not have been the same if I weren't able to work with my mom for it,” Jocelynne added. “Especially since I've known her for 20 years, so I find we're able to work really, really well together in that sense. She also trusted me enough to be able to design it and make it all by myself, which was nice."

The Wijnkers also praised Tanton for her humorous take on Charlotte in Cinderella. The actress was new to the stage, as were more than 40 per cent of the cast.

“Theatre can be an intimidating space for first timers, and it took Becky a few rehearsals to feel comfortable enough to let herself go and take some risks with her performance,” they said. “But once she did it was magical! She would crack us all up during rehearsals, and we encouraged her not to worry about being a perfect performer.”

Stephanie MacDonald, who portrayed Madame in Cinderella, was also nominated in the Best Newcomer category. The production earned additional nominations, including Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role for Kassidy Davies as Marie—the Fairy Godmother’s alter ego—Memorable Moment in a Show for Cinderella’s carriage entrance, Outstanding Musical Direction for Shannon Wijnker, and Outstanding Direction by a First-Time Director for Emil Wijnker. The musical was widely praised and played to sold-out audiences.

“We are humbled and grateful for this very high praise,” the Wijnkers said. “Ultimately, our show was an entire team effort, and credit for the success of our production is shared by the entire cast and crew. As you might expect, many strong friendships were forged as we worked on this show, which may be the most valuable reward of all.”