Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg & Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella Cast Reunite

They starred in Disney’s racially diverse remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella starting in 1997.

And now Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters and other ABC TV movie stars have virtually reunited to remember working on the groundbreaking production.

The cast, which also included Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, Veanne Cox and Paolo Montalban for the conversation which was moderated by Entertainment Weekly.

The reunion was in honor of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella arriving on the Disney + streaming service just after midnight on Friday, November 12.

Brandy (full name: Brandy Norwood) called the film a “ game changer, ” although it has not been available to stream in recent years and appears to be out of print on physical media, although copies of the DVD and older VHS tapes can still be found online.

“ It was a game-changer, like it was so different, and it just gave everyone the opportunity to play these iconic characters and see it in a different way. It was so magical, ”she gushes.

Her co-star Goldberg, who played Queen Constantina, added that ‘a lot of it came from Whitney’s heart and soul [Houston]. I know a lot of what you see is what she wanted.

The late singer, who died in 2012 at the age of 48, played the role of Cinderella’s fairy godmother while producing the film.

Peters, who was simply credited as a stepmother in the film, was honored to have been a part of the ‘multicultural’ film years before Hollywood recognized films featuring black actors as a major business force.

“ It was an honor to be a part of something so wonderful back then, and even now, and it was multicultural, and it was so wonderful that the kids watching it could enjoy it and all the different types of people who were there, and not even question it, ”she said.

Cox stepped in to remind how often fans shared their love for the musical with her.

“ There are very few weeks that go by, even now after how many years – 25, where someone isn’t coming to me and telling me how much it meant to them, and how much it has changed their lives, and how it started lives them, she recalled.

Alexander agreed, adding, “It happens when you meet people a lot, and they talk about this particular Cinderella, and they claim it, and they say ‘Brandy was my Cinderella.’

Montalban, who starred alongside Brandy as Prince Christopher, agreed the singer was the right fit for the role.

He remembered how confident she looked on the scene when she made her grand entrance into her family’s palace.

“ When Brandy stepped out in her Cinderella dress, no acting required, and in fact I had to take maybe 10 more breaths because she looked so gorgeous at the top of the stairs, ” he revealed.

“ And they probably took the first take because I just saw that part recently and it felt like this man wasn’t breathing because he saw the love of his life appear at the top of the stairs. ”

Montalban had no trouble playing the role, as he had previously played the prince in a high school production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical.

The ABC version of Cinderella was originally intended to play Houston in the title role, but she felt she had aged out of the game by the time she was finally enlightened.

Instead, she sought out Brandy for the role.

The TV movie garnered mixed reviews, but it became ABC’s most-watched musical in decades with the network’s highest ratings on Sundays in 10 years, with an astounding 60 million people watching. listen.