Wednesday, January 9, 2013

LOGOS: Cinderella

It's a fine line, I'm sure, for promotions teams to develop new iconography for beloved musicals.  I mean, when the inevitable revival of Cats happens, do you really think they are going to mess too much with that success?  Heck, the last (and, inevitably, next) revival of Les Miserables only changed the background.  It makes sense.  Neither revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was particularly riveting, and neither came close to the classic original.

Imagine how difficult it must be to create something that will both appeal to fans of a beloved title and let them know that the stage version isn't the same thing.  Case in point:  Disney's Cinderella vs Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella.  I'm happy to report that (I think) the P.R. people in charge of the upcoming Broadway debut of the latter show have managed to do just that.

Grade: A+

It is pretty.  Purple and sparkly. (Little girls in the audience...check.)  The title typography is different, but similar to the one on the video boxes.  (Disney fans intrigued...check.)  Broadway icons are large in the logo and with that cool "+" instead of an ampersand or "and".  (Musical theatre fans old (classic writers) and new (that "+" is sooo Twitter/Facebook)...check.)  And the tag line is so, well, so 21st Century trendy (Teens with a secret fairy tale attachment...check.).  "Glass slippers are so back" is really a cool way to update this old war horse of a story.  Beloved or not, this story is old and being made new again with what is sure to be a sassy new book by sassy book writer Douglas Carter Beane.  (If this book is even one-third as smart and funny as Lysistrata Jones or The Little Dog Laughed, count me in on that point alone.)

The logo sticks out, as it should, due to its size and different typography,  The large girly-cue "C" and the royal, all-caps "inderella" evokes a girly royalty.  Who is more girly or royal that Miss C?  And the sparkly, blue-clear lettering is all a reminder of the bibbidi bobbidy boo magic of the story.  And using a plain, but modern stick lettering for all the rest is smart.  It doesn't overpower the title, even though there is more of that than the one word title.  And its modernity makes it relevant, not old school.


The image is also the perfect combination of elements.  It is sparkly, familiar, and it goes with the tag line as much as it represents the show.  And how very clever and ultimately great for later posters and marquees that the image is recognizable at first glance and its size draws that first glance.  But the best part is that it draws your eyes and there is a delightful discovery to be made upon closer inspection:  Cinderella herself is in the shoe, her ball gown forming the arch and heel of the slipper.  She's dangling the other slipper on her finger impatiently (modern Cindy hates that she has to wait..) as she stares at the moon (time ticks throughout this story).  I imagine that this particular show tee shirt will sell well with all ages, particularly if they offer it in royal purple - little girls will be so chic and mommies can feel like they are keeping up with their kids...

If this logo is any indication of the attention being paid to the actual show, I am more interested now than I have ever been.  And that's saying something.

Jeff
4.129

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