Brandy reflects on the ‘magic’ of being the first Black Cinderella & working with Whitney Houston
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, the groundbreaking television film adaptation of the iconic French fairy tale.
A color-blinding casting approach transformed the Robert Iscove-helmed movie into one of the most diverse fairy-tale adaptations in television history. The film’s ensemble, which featured Brandy as the first Black Cinderella and the late Whitney Houston as her Fairy Godmother, included Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Veanne Cox, Victor Garber, Paolo Montalban, and the late Natalie Desselle.
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Tuesday night (Aug. 23), ABC will air a reunion special for the Emmy Award-winning television film called Cinderella: The Reunion. Ahead of the special, Good Morning America aired some snippets of some of the cast reflecting on the culture-shifting project.
“I remember like it was yesterday,” Brandy mused. “I’m nervous, but I’m not nervous because I feel … I can be myself around her, and then she feels like she could be herself around me. And so this … magic is happening, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God! She really sings like this!'”
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella became ABC’s most-watched Sunday night program in more than 10 years, garnering more than 60 million viewers on premiere night. The television film has since gone on to become one of the most beloved adaptations of Cinderella in popular media.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella received seven Emmy nominations, including outstanding variety, music or comedy special. It won one, for outstanding art direction for a variety or music program.
Brandy has earned seven top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including a 13-week run at No. 1 alongside Monica with “The Boy Is Mine.” On the Billboard 200, the Grammy-winner has notched four top 10 titles including 1998’s Never Say Never (No. 2) and 2012’s Two Eleven (No. 3).
Watch a clip from Cinderella: The Reunion here:
