Meet the costume mistress of 'Cinderella'

It's not quite bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

For Cincinnati Ballet wardrobe mistress Diana Vandergriff-Adams, it's more of a bibbidi-bobbido-do.

Hers is a "practical magic," she says. Her costume spells have been equal parts glitter and get-it-done. Sequins and sequencing.

The Fairy Godmother of the ballet's fresh take on "Cinderella," coming to the Aronoff Center, doesn't even put her wand down during the performances Friday-Sunday.

During the show, she'll mend the magic from behind the curtain. Maybe there will be a tear on a tutu. A zipper might break, but the spell won't. Because after 43 seasons with the company, she can find enchantment in a roll of tape.

Ask her about what happened that one time during "Sleeping Beauty." It involves a ballerina dressed like a white cat. A revealing rip. And Vandergriff-Adams to the rescue with some white tape.

No matter what snags on stage, "Cinderella" has already been a royal task for the costume department. Since May, Vandergriff-Adams and her team have recreated and refreshed 119 costumes for the tale about dreams coming true to the true-hearted.

Originally built in 1974, the show's wardrobe "was really sad," Vandergriff-Adams said. "They are gorgeous, but getting really threadbare and they are really small."

The Cincinnati Ballet last staged the dance based on the Charles Perrault story version in 2010. But the company rents ensembles like those for "Cinderella" to organizations across the country. So the clock has struck midnight time and time again on these pumpkins.

So expect that The Prince will be especially charming this year, sweeping Cinderella off her slippered feet in a whole new set of costumes. The "uglies," as Vandergriff-Adams calls them, get updated looks, too.

The ugly stepsisters who torment our heroine each don new shiny amethyst gowns, with opulent silver trim from the original costumes (Vandergriff-Adams can't find that trim anywhere else these days).

There's also some hidden magic in those anything-but-ugly Uglies costumes. Vandergriff-Adams added a special lining because the stepsisters, all played by male dancers, kept getting their heels caught in the skirt.

Her powers don't end there: She's also brought a horse back to life. Well, horse hooves at least. A set of feet made for a production of "King Arthur," but never used, are being recast as the mice-turned-horse of "Cinderella." She shrunk the hoof a bit. And painted each a golden white and added white sweatpants.

Bibbidi-bobbido-do, indeed.

There are some illusions she won't illustrate. But she'll give you a hint: Watch that pumpkin closely.

But that's part of the fun. This is a story built around spectacle. In this classic tale, costumes don't just reveal character, they are characters themselves. A shoe is the pivotal plot point. A ballgown is a second act.

That's why the attention to details matter. The single, shimmering threads on a jester cape. The individual petals of a blue flower on a waltz dress. The audience can't count them from their theater seats. But they add up.

Just ask Cinderella herself, Abigail Morwood.

"We are in rehearsal all day long, in these rags really," she said. "To be able to put something so pretty, it really does make you feel like a princess."

If you go

What: Cincinnati Ballet's "Cinderella." The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performs the music of the Sergei Prokofiev, conducted by maestro Carmon DeLeone. 

When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Downtown.

Admission: Tickets start at $32. 

For more: 621-5282, cballet.org. Ticket holders can also attend a conversation with artistic director and CEO Victoria Morgan, maestro Carmon DeLeone and associate artistic director Johanna Bernstein Wilt at 7 p.m. Friday in the Procter & Gamble Hall at Aronoff Center. A ticket to "Cinderella" is admission.