The United European Ballet Company is bringing Cinderella to UPAC in Kingston this fall — two acts of Prokofiev, hand-painted sets built by artists from across Europe, and an international cast with principal dancers from Ukraine. It is the kind of production that takes the fairy tale seriously enough to actually deliver it.
About the Production
Classical Arts Entertainment is presenting the show at the Ulster Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 20. The company’s approach is theatrical rather than museum-piece: Broadway-inflected staging that keeps Prokofiev’s orchestral score at the center while the choreography moves the story forward without getting precious about it. The Fairy Godmother scene lands. The royal ball earns its Prokofiev. The cast draws from ballet traditions across Europe, with leading soloists from Ukraine, and the result reads as coherent rather than committee-designed.
The production details matter: hand-painted sets by European artists, costumes by European designers, a two-act structure with one intermission. This is not a stripped-down touring version. The design work is built to fill a room. The story follows Cinderella from isolation through the Fairy Godmother’s intervention to the royal ball — the classic arc, executed with technical skill and emotional depth.
The show is family-friendly and suitable for ages 2 and up.
About the Venue
UPAC — the Ulster Performing Arts Center at 601 Broadway in Kingston — is the largest proscenium theater between Manhattan and Albany, and one of only three pre-World War II theaters still standing in the Hudson Valley. Built in 1926 as a Classical Revival theater, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. The house seats 1,500, and when a production is scaled correctly for a room like that, you feel it from any seat.
Tickets & Pricing
Tickets run $51–$101. A 23% discount is available for ballet school groups. Showtime is 7:00 PM on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.