Cover Image: Mayume Noguromi as Cinderella with the Nymphs and Fauns in West Australian Ballet’s Cinderella. Photo: Matt Jelonek.

Note: Article pictures feature cast members that may not have performed on the night of review.

Cinderella, WA Ballet
Saturday, 22nd November 2025
His Majesty’s Theatre

Opening in the shadows of a graveside farewell, a young Cinderella plants a hazel tree in front of her mother’s tombstone. Little does she know her quiet gesture will later bloom into magic.

Returning to His Majesty’s Theatre after the 2011 premier, Jayne Smeulders’ Cinderella closes the West Australian Ballet’s 2025 season with enchantment and humour. Allan Lees’ 1930s-inspired costumes and stage design drape the fairytale in elegance. Jon Buswell and Benjamin Fry’s lighting elevates every detail, from the rippling swirl of ball gowns to a scrim mirror that transforms into a portal for memory and magic. 

Alexa Tuzil’s Cinderella moves through Act I with weighted and restrained movements that echo grief until she joins a moonlit dance with her Fairy Godmother, dancer Kassidy Thompson, and various fae creatures under the hazel tree’s silhouette. In Act II, Tuzil bursts free at the royal ball, her solo sweeps across the stage like unfurled silk and radiating grace through extended lines. 

When midnight looms, the music and movement fuse. You feel the brass from the West Australian Philharmonic Orchestra press the urgency of midnight into Cinderella’s chest—the corps encircling her in a coupled dance. Under the guidance of Principal Conductor Jessica Gethin, Sergei Prokofiev’s score is woven into the dancers’ every gesture and emotion. 

Juan Carlos Osma, playing Prince Charming, suspends himself in the air with an array of effortless leaps and turning jumps that express his princely confidence. His final duet with Tuzil offers a contrast to his agility, with the two melting into one another as they dance towards their happily ever after.

Counterpoint to Cinderella’s quiet grace is the comedic mischief of the stepsisters—Polly Hilton and Beatrice Manser—who ignite the stage with exaggerated facial expressions and hilarious un-lady like movements. Their energy never falters, not even during a chaotic shoe change in Act I. Their comedic timing unites both young and old audiences with waves of laughter. At times their humour tips the balance, occasionally overshadowing subtler storytelling but their charm is irresistible. 

Even if a full-length classical ballet is not your usual scene, the allure of elegant costumes, clever staging and comedic encounters will draw you in. Go for the stepsisters’ riotous antics and stay for the spellbinding elegance of Cinderella finding her Prince Charming. 

Cinderella opened Friday 21 November and runs until Sunday 14 December 2025 at His Majesty’s Theatre.

For more information and ticket purchases, visit:
https://waballet.com.au/cinderella