MANKATO —

It’s the classic rags to riches tale of a beautiful girl who escapes servitude by marrying a handsome prince.

And it’s the story that often makes little girls wonder if there’s a glass slipper waiting for them, too.

Cinderella is one of those fairytale characters that girls can’t help but envy. With a voice like an angel and beauty that can’t even be masked by rags and soot, she’s been an easy idol for many — including, once upon a time, Ashley FitzSimmons.

“Cinderella, I think, is something a lot of little girls want to be,” said FitzSimmons, an MSU senior majoring in acting.

“So I feel kind of lucky in that respect.”

FitzSimmons is lucky because, unlike most young girls with stars in their eyes, she actually gets to be Cinderella, or at least play her in the Highland Summer Theatre production opening next week.

The leading role is sort of a dream come true, because the enchantress was her idol, too.

“The Disney movie was my favorite movie as a child,” she said.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of the tale is slightly different than the Disney movie with which many girls are most familiar.

But Moms and Grandmas probably remember the 1957 television production, starring Julie Andrews, and the remake in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren.

“It’s a little different from the Disney cartoon,” FitzSimmons said. “Cinderella doesn’t have animal friends, that’s a Disney embellishment. And the songs are different. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same.”

Cinderella’s gowns are just as spectacular as in the movies, FitzSimmons said. The costumer specially tailored a blue silk ballgown to get FitzSimmons into character.

“The ballgown just beautiful,” she said. “It’s sparkly lace and blue silk.”

FitzSimmons of Good Thunder also was in the production of “Beehive” earlier this summer, her third season of Highland. She has played the leading role of Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” during a previous season, she was in the ensemble of “Godspell,” and played Ellie in “Show Boat.”

FitzSimmons graduated from Maple River High School, where she played in eight productions, including “The Sound of Music,” “Little Women” and “A Doll’s House.”