On March 31,1957 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was performed live for the first time on television by a cast that included the star of Broadway's My Fair Lady, Julie Andrews, for whom the musical had been specifically written. It was CBS' answer to NBC's Peter Pan, written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for prime time TV.

The music was composed by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical starred Julie Andrews as Cinderella, Jon Cypher as the Prince and Edith Adams as the Fairy Godmother. For a complete cast list, click the link on the left.

The movie could be seen in color (on the East Coast) or in black and white (West coast). The West coast performance was seen 3 hours later, using a kinescope version. Over 107 million people watched the show giving it the largest television audience at the time.

This performance was not repeated until recently when PBS aired a recording hosted by Julie Andrews to celebrate the 2004 DVD release. Before this release the tape was rarely seen and only officially available for viewing at the New York museum of film and television. The DVD was released on December 7, 2004 by Image Entertainment and so once more Cinderella shines in digitally remastered glory! The DVD picture quality is not perfect but for true fans of this show and all fans of good, wholesome entertainment, things like that matter very little. For more details and to view larger front cover, click the image below.