But as in all good stories, a fairy godmother has arrived in the nick of time.

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"It's like having your fairy godmother buy you something really extravagant, " said Mr. Maupin, the gallerist, of receiving such gifts.

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Her magisterial "Queen of the Dark" shoe from 2012 looks as if it, not some fairy godmother, will cast the spells.

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There is a fairy godmother for failing businesses after all.

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Ms. JENNIFER SAUNDERS: (As Fairy Godmother) Oh, don't worry.

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More sensibly "There's Music in You, " from a 1953 film called "Main Street to Broadway, " became the Fairy Godmother's "11 o'clock number, " a solid idea that's retained in the new production and now performed by Victoria Clark.

WSJ: Cinderella: That Flexible Fairy Tale

In previews for the 1997 TV movie, Houston's Fairy Godmother and pop singer Brandy's title character were much hyped, but the Rob Marshall-directed production itself was stolen by old pros Bernadette Peters as the stepmother, Victor Garber and Whoopee Goldberg as the King and Queen, and Jason Alexander as a kind of singing, dancing, pratfalling George Costanza.

WSJ: Cinderella: That Flexible Fairy Tale