On Friday 22, the high school choir and fifth and sixth-grade girls attended the opera musical Cendrillon at Oklahoma City University, Wanda A. Bass School of Music. Cendrillon is the French version of Cinderella which is somewhat different than the traditional story.

Instead of having a male play the prince, a female plays the role. The story takes place “before the prince got his voice,” meaning his voice hasn’t fully developed. Originally when the younger males could still sing soprano and before they got their voice, they would be castrated so they could sing soprano until the day they died and play the younger roles.

Later on, actors and singers began to stop this practice. If the male couldn’t sing the part, production companies would use a female to portray what a young boy’s voice would sound like. This part of the musical left the students confused to why the prince was a woman, but music teacher Alison Clark told them the history of musical theatre.

The Canton music program was invited to attend Cendrillon before opening night for a shorter version of the musical free of charge.