Paolo Montalban is a American actor and singer best known for his performance in the 1997 Disney television film Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella as Prince Christopher, opposite Brandy as Cinderella. He reprised that role in a stage version of the musical with Deborah Gibson and then Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Cinderella and Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother.
Montalban in 2023
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella is a 1997 American musical fantasy television film produced by Walt Disney Television, directed by Robert Iscove, and written by Robert L. Freedman. Based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault, the film is the second remake and third version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, which originally aired on television in 1957. Adapted from Oscar Hammerstein II's book, Freedman modernized the script to appeal to more contemporary audiences by updating its themes, particularly re-writing its main character into a stronger heroine. Co-produced by Whitney Houston, who also appears as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, the film stars Brandy in the title role and features a racially diverse ensemble cast consisting of Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Veanne Cox, Natalie Desselle, Victor Garber, and Paolo Montalban.
Home video promotional poster, featuring Houston and Brandy as their respective characters.
Singer and actress Whitney Houston (pictured in 2009) originally intended to play Cinderella herself. However, feeling that she had outgrown the role by the time the film was greenlit, she opted to play the character's Fairy Godmother instead, in addition to producing the film.
Actress Bernadette Peters portrays Cinderella's stepmother. Borrowed from the musical The Boys from Syracuse (1938), the song "Falling in Love with Love" was used in the film to both develop the Stepmother's character and provide Peters with an opportunity to use her singing voice.
For her role as Queen Constantina, actress Whoopi Goldberg insisted that she wear real jewels as opposed to costume jewelry, enlisting jeweler Harry Winston to loan the film $60 million worth of jewelry.