When Billie Jo Wicks told her kindergarten class she was going to be Cinderella, she didn't get the reaction she was expecting.

"They said 'Are you leaving us? Are you going to the palace to marry the prince?'" Wicks said. "They think it's true. I just love it. I enchanted them."

Wicks won't be going to the palace, but she will be at the Paramount Theatre this weekend playing the cinder maid turned princess as Matchbox Children's Theatre presents "Cinderella."

"I've just always wanted to be a princess so it's really fun to play one," Wicks said.

Fifteen children and adults make up the cast and Carrie Parker is director. Matchbox put on "Cinderella" in 1996 and some participants are very familiar with the classic tale.

Parker's mother, Cindy Young-Johnson, directed the performance in 1996. Parker was her stage manager. This year's Prince, Kyle Larsen, was the Jester in the first performance.

"I had to wear tights in the last one. Now I have to wear these girl pants," Larsen said, tugging at the black spandex pants of his Prince costume.

He came to perform again by chance. Parker saw him at Perkins and asked if he wanted to be involved. He agreed, partly to be get involved in acting again and partly because he likes performing for children.

"The most rewarding part of it is doing it for the kids and seeing their reaction," Larsen said.

Even the evil stepmother could agree with that. Joanne Fox, who plays Cinderella's stepmother, said children sometimes get more out of a performance than adults.

"They appreciated it in a different way than adults do," Fox said.

And no matter how the story of Cinderella is told, the children grasp the meaning, Wicks said. She has been reading to her students at Southgate different versions of the classic tale, where glass slippers are sometimes sandals and ball gowns can be sarongs.

"It all breaks down to the same thing -- true love and happiness and dreams coming true," Wicks said.

Cinderella opens at 7 p.m. Friday and continues at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Historic Paramount Theatre. Tickets for adults are $5.50. Children 14 and under and senior citizens are $4.

Children 2 and under are free. Tickets are available at Black Barts/Nemitz's, Sterling Main Street and at the door.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com