Disney's Beauty and The Beast the Musical - review

[Jane Zussman]

Thanks to reviewer Molly Woods:

"All little girls are princesses" may not be a line from Disney's Beauty and The Beast the Musical, but this reviewer required some personal validation from author Frances Hodgson Burnett in her novel A Little Princess. At the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday evening, I was indeed wearing a yellow gown and opera gloves. Thank you to G.L.U.T. for the opportunity to attend the opening night, and a thank you to Linda Granger of The Starlight Dinner Theater for her assistance in completing my princess ensemble. This story has long been a favorite of mine and holds a special place in my heart. 

Beauty and The Beast is a tale as old as time, requiring no synopsis. With each new retelling of the story a new form of creativity is embraced. The Broadway version feels like a beautiful comedy with Belle, portrayed by Kyra Belle Johnson, as the one straight character. The ensemble and supporting characters emphasize their lines with changing vocal inflections and physical humor that bring rolls of laughter from the audience. Belle is a playful, witty, intelligent, and charming character that is the oddball in both settings of the story. She is the 'funny girl' in the village (explained through song), and the single human in an enchanted castle. The difference between Belle's experience in the village versus that of the enchanted castle is acceptance. She is met with disdain in the village and warmly welcomed at the castle. The story continues, as expected, with an accelerated friendship between Belle and Beast, a growing love, conflict, and a happy ending.

The Beast is exceptionally played by Fergie L. Philippe who aptly exhibited both animalist behaviors and exaggerated human attitudes of being stubborn, grumpy, or elated. His rapid change of tones and mannerisms are delightfully comical, though The Beast would highly disapprove of being laughed at when in an agitated state. 

The two show stealers are the ensemble, represented as villagers and castle extras, and Gaston's Biceps. (They should have their own character bio in the program for the amount of stage attention they received). High praise goes to director and choreographer Matt West, with the assistance of Lorenzo Pisoni as movement coordinator and two associate choreographers, Jenn Rias and Erin N. Moore and Ann Hould-Ward on costume design. 

The musical numbers "Gaston" and "Be Our Guest" are both high energy extended numbers that blow the audience away with the variety of dance styles incorporated. "Be Our Guest", sung by Lumiere (Danny Gardner), Mrs. Potts (Kathy Voytko), Madame (Holly Ann Butler), and the ensemble includes ballet, tap, contemporary, cha-cha and more. “Gaston,” sung by Gaston (Stephen Mark Lukas), Lefou (Harry Francis), and the villagers is an incredible rhythmic event with amazing prop interactions that demonstrate Gaston's incredible abilities. 

As the last bars of "Be Our Guest" played, it dawned on me what a vast number of quick wardrobe changes the ensemble went through. Ann Hould-Ward displayed imaginative new costumes with each style of dance. Mrs. Potts and Madam were particular favorites sporting creative costume design. Beauty and the Beast is a visual feast with lighting projections tied into set pieces and backdrops enhancing the imagery and creating new surprises in each scene. The invention created to demonstrate Maurice's talents as an inventor (played by Kevin Ligon) is quite clever.

The challenge of a well known story is the audiences accepting any changes. I was looking forward to the song "No Matter What,” sung between Belle and Maurice, but the song was excluded, keeping key lyrics as dialogue with the instrumental background. The relationship between Belle and The Beast seemed to evolve in merely a few days in story time, the passage of time not strongly noted. 

The Great Hall of the Wharton Center was packed full with a variety of ages. I exchanged pleasantries with a young lady (age 8), also in a lovely yellow gown. She was excited to tell me about the prize her father kindly got her from the merchandise table, (a color-changing mug to replace a beloved one that broke) that she has seen the animated movie, but the stage version was better, and that "Be Our Guest" was her favorite part. As a story that many children are familiar with, this is an ideal show for them to attend. Disney's Beauty and The Beast the Musical performs at the Wharton Center until Sunday October 19th. Visit Whartoncenter.com for ticket information. Be aware that not everything is for everyone, and the performances contain fog, smoke, strobe lights, loud sound effects and simulated gun shots. 

Jane Zussman

G.L.U.T. List

(Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre)

cell 517-930-0932

JSZu...@gmail.com

http://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net 

To review past emails as they were sent, click “About the G.L.U.T.” and choose “email list” from the drop-down menu — also check out the all-theatres calendar.

“Like” us on Facebook!