Three chances remain to see J*Company Youth Theatre’s excellent production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 made-for-television musical “Cinderella.” Directed by Joey Landwehr, it plays on stage through Sunday at La Jolla’s Jewish Community Center. Leading players are between 12 and 13 years old. Hallie Bodenstab and Keila Ashkenasi, who portray the wicked Stepmother and the Queen, respectively, are 13-year-old students at Muirlands Middle School. La Jolla Village News attended the matinee performance on Mother’s Day. There were many mothers and dads and princesses in the audience. Some wore glittery pink tennis shoes, and some sported party dresses on top of their play clothes. Mothers and grandmothers wore tiaras and one babe in arms was so tiny it resembled a child’s baby doll. The little girl sitting next to this critic was attending her first musical and received clapping lessons from mom prior to the performance. She performed beautifully and stayed awake for the entire musical, which lasted around two hours. The first impressive voice was that of Jonas McMullen, who announced “The prince is giving a ball!” He was soon joined by the chorus of townspeople, correctly surmising that the lonely prince (baritone David Ahmadian, 12, of Carmel Valley Middle School) would pick a bride from the village maidens who attended. Cinderella’s wicked stepmother (the excellent Hallie Bodenstab, whose voice has a rich quality) preps her imperious daughters (Celia Tedde, 12, of San Diego Cooperative Charter School and Ilana Engel, 13, of San Diego Jewish Academy) for the ball. All three are cruel to Cinderella (Hannah Houts), whose godmother (Samantha Tullie, 12, of Solana Santa Fe) dresses her for the ball, providing coach and footmen as in the beloved Perrault fairy tale. Houts possesses a well-employed soprano voice and a lovely stage demeanor. As her prince, Ahmadian also sings well and manages to look ardent, not an easy feat for a man so young. The production, adapted for pre-high school students, looks impressive enough, and all the players are involved to the hilt, moving well and sounding good in all the ensemble numbers. The young people in the audience no doubt appreciate all the special effects and the fancy gowns as well as numerous pratfalls. The music is easily identifiable as that of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Due to its brevity, uncomplicated nature and familiarity, “Cinderella” makes a grand introduction to the theater and is great family entertainment. Remaining performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 15, and 1 and 4:40 p.m. Sunday, May 16 at the David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus, 4126 Executive Drive. Tickets are $113 for children and $17 for adults and are available online at www.sdcja.org/jcompany or by calling the JCC box office, (858) 362-1348.