Ten Minutes and Fifty (Two) Years Ago: the three TV versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

This article complements existing discussions of the three versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's TV musical Cinderella by highlighting three specific aspects: (1) the time period and location of the narrative in the context of other musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein (and by Rodgers and Hart), (2) the song Ten Minutes Ago and its musical, visual, and dramatic elements as presented in each version, and (3) the cultural politics of the different versions, from the colour-blind casting of the Disney version to more subtle narrative moments in the original 1957 version, and how they reflect very different periods in American life.