Hear the title &uot;Cinderella&uot; and images of a sweet heroine, a selfish stepmother and stepsisters, magic and lots of romance come to mind.

Generally, slapstick humor a la The Three Stooges, does not.

But these elements all come together successfully in the Albert Lea Community Theatre children’s production of &uot;Cinderella,&uot; directed by Patrick Rasmussen. The play opens tonight at the Civic Theatre. It’s a combination that audiences young and old are sure to find charming.

The heroine, played by Hannah Gjersvik, is as we all know her. She’s sweet, loving, pretty and always hopeful. The prince (Tony Segura) is good-looking and well-mannered. But in this production, you won’t find evil stepsisters. Instead, they’re bungling and are constantly being schooled in charm &045; to no avail. They’re humorously played by Nissa Nordland and Emily Hacker.

Erica Sorenson plays the stepmother, who constantly has to blow a whistle to keep her daughters in line. Even then, it’s pretty much hopeless with these two.

This version of &uot;Cinderella&uot; also features a jester in the role of the narrator (Stephan Johnson). It’s a nice touch. The jester makes it his business to help Cinderella find someone to laugh with &045; namely, the prince. He introduces them to each other as Sir Soapy Suds and My Lady of the Tubs in honor of Cinderella’s ever-present laundry duties.

Of course, there’s a fairy godmother (Katlynn Nelson) who glides in and out and makes sure that Cinderella and the jester know that while she can help, she can only do so much and the rest is up to Cinderella and the prince.

Because of the talents of the cast, the production also features a very nicely done ballet number with Alexandra Ciota and Breann Sorenson. Other cast members are Courtiers Brooke Arnold, Paige Onstad, Jenna Christensen, Abraham Swee and Scott Strom. Trisha Kvenvold is the stage manager.

The simple set is pleasing to the eye, with bright colors on the cobblestone floor and wooden &uot;clothes&uot; hanging on the line. The background is actually a projection of blue sky and trees or stars, or even a thunderstorm, depending on the story.

General admission tickets are $7. The play runs tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. There’s also a matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday. The box office is open from

3:30 p.m. until curtain time on performance nights, and also from 1-2 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is 377-4371.

&uot;Cinderella&uot; books will be sold in the lobby. Children can have cast members autograph them after the show. People can bring their cameras too, so their kids can have their pictures taken with the cast after the show.

This production of Cinderella is made possible in part by a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council Inc., through funding from the Minnesota Legislature.

(Contact Geri McShane at lifestyles@albertleatribune.com, or call 379-3436.)