As was the case last season; Stacy becomes the last band member to be the center of an episode this season; in an episode which also introduces one of the most common formats used for Kids Incorporated: The Storybook Episode.
We start off with a performance of “Souls” which starts on stage before the ending transitions to the garage, where the band is wrapping up rehearsal (the kids were invited to a birthday party for a kid named Alan whose family just arrived from England - all except Stacy, as kids 10 years old and up were invited to Lynch Manornote ). While Kid is making wisecracks and Renee’s piling on with some of her comments don’t help matters much, what does — at least somewhat — is Stacy getting the lead vocals for the final song of their rehearsal (“Come See About Me”). The older kids then leave while Stacy — reading a copy of ‘’Cinderella’’ — soon falls asleep.
We then go into a fairly standard adaptation of the fairy tale; as Stacy…er, Stacyrella finds herself in rags and being ordered around by her wicked stepsisters (Renee and Gloria; with the latter’s character complete with a Pinocchio meets Richard Nixon Gag Nose); who both ask if the Prince will notice them (Stacyrella: “I’m sure he’ll notice both…no matter how hard he tries not to.”) before taking off while leaving Stacyrella to sweep up.
At this point, Stacyrella’s fairy godfather crash lands; he then introduces himself (noting that fairy godfathers exist but don’t get as much publicity); and after a false start transforms her rags into elegant finery; then instead of turning a pumpkin into a carriagenote , magically sends Stacyrella directly to the palace (“Material Girl”). At that point, Prince Alannote ) arrives; with the two stepsisters squabbling when they weren’t fighting for the Prince’s attention (Prince Alan quickly darting out of the way when the two race up to him) — with the Fairy Godfather cracking that maybe he saw them; leading to Renee’s stepsister character wondering who he was. Meanwhile, Prince Alan meets Stacyrella and before she could leave; Prince Alan explains that the 10 and older rule was his father’s doing, leading to the two dancing to a performance of “The Greatest Love of All”.
Then the clock strikes 10:00; and the Fairy Godfather realizes he’s got to get Stacyrella out of the palace fast, with the Glass Slipper left behind as the dream ends. The others (plus Alan) return with good news; namely that they were able to get the birthday party moved to the P*lace; with Alan presenting Stacy with a glass slipper, much to Stacy’s shock; setting up closing song “Change”.
As a side note; many of the costumes would be reused for the episode “Boy Wonder” from the following season.
Songs performed in this episode:
- “Souls“ (Rick Springfield cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
- “Come See Above Me’” (The Supremes cover; lead vocals by Stacy)
- “Material Girl“ (Madonna cover; lead vocals by Stacy, Renee and Gloria)
- “The Greatest Love of All’”note (George Benson cover {
popularized by Whitney Houston}; lead vocals by Kid)note - “Change“ (John Waite cover; lead vocals by Stacy)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- All Just a Dream: Stacy’s reaction after the birthday party was moved to the P*lace…until she sees the slipper.
- Cinderella Plot: The dream sequence that makes up roughly half the episode is a condensed version of "Cinderella".
- Dream Sequence: Roughly half the episode takes place during Stacy dreaming she’s “Stacyrella”.
- Fairy Companion/Fairy Godfather: The rare “Fairy Godfather” occurrence as played by Rahsaan Patterson; who then lampshades this upon introducing himself.
- Stacyrella (Stacy): “I thought it was supposed to be a fairy godmother.”Fairy Godfather (Kid): “Everybody thinks that. There’s a lot of us fairy godfathers. We just don’t get as much publicity.”
- Fairy Tale Episode: The first example of this in the series, in this case ‘’Cinderella’’.
- Gag Nose: The wicked stepsister played by Martika has this.
- Storybook Episode: This marks the first use of this format for the series, though far from the last.
- Vague Age: Stacy’s age is apparently established as 9 in this episode.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Or rather, ten in this case, which again gets lampshaded by Kid.
- Stacyrella (upon learning the Fairy Godfather’s magic runs out at 10:00 p.m.): “I thought it was supposed to be midnight.”Fairy Godfather: “It used to be, but they changed it.”Stacyrella: “Why?”Fairy Godfather: “Something about Daylight Savings, come on; we’ve got to go!”
