REVIEW: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST—Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts
A lavish new touring production proves that after 25 years, this enchanted musical still has plenty of theatrical tricks up its sleeve.
SEPTEMBER 20—COSTA MESA, CA
Forget the streaming service. Forget the remote. And for heaven's sake, forget dinner plans. There is a Beast in town, and he has brought along a talking candlestick, a tap-dancing teapot, an egomaniacal muscleman and enough theatrical magic to make even the most jaded theatergoer believe in fairy tales again.
Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which opened last night at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, is back on the North American road for the first time in more than 25 years—and judging from this lavish new production, Disney has apparently decided that subtlety is something that happens to other musicals…Thank goodness.
It is romantic, funny, lavish, sentimental, musically glorious—and, yes, occasionally so unabashedly Disney that you may find yourself grinning while simultaneously trying to remember where you parked the carriage.
Based on Disney's Oscar-winning 1991 animated film, the musical first stormed onto Broadway in 1994, where it became one of the industry's longest-running shows. It was nominated for nine Tony Awards and helped establish a new formula for Disney: take an animated movie, add a terrific score, put it onstage and then throw just about everything you own at the audience. The result changed musical theater.
Alan Menken's music and the late Howard Ashman's lyrics didn't merely decorate the story; they told it. Songs such as “Belle,” “Gaston,” “Be Our Guest” and the title number became character-driven storytelling—and helped launch the extraordinary Disney musical renaissance that would eventually give us Aladdin, The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
More than three decades later, that magic remains remarkably intact.
At the center of it all is Kyra Belle Johnson as Belle, and she brings exactly what the role requires: intelligence, warmth, charm and a healthy resistance to the proposition that Gaston is somehow a good catch. Belle is the kind of heroine who would rather read a book than spend an afternoon discussing the local hunting hero—and frankly, who among us hasn't felt the same way on their day off?
Ms. Johnson gives Belle both strength and vulnerability, while Fergie L. Philippe as the Beast successfully navigates the tricky territory between terrifying, tortured and unexpectedly tender. It is not easy playing a man who spends part of the evening as a roaring monster and another part trying to convince the audience that there is a sensitive, misunderstood prince hiding underneath all that fur. Mr. Philippe makes the transformation believable and moving—all with mesmerizing vocals.
And then there is Stephen Mark Lukas as Gaston, who appears to have been sent directly from Central Casting's Department of Magnificently Overinflated Egos. Gaston is supposed to be ridiculous, and Mr. Lukas understands that the best way to play ridiculous is to take every ridiculous thing completely seriously with a preposterous amount of self-importance. His comic swagger makes “Gaston” one of the evening's great showcases, while Harry Francis as Lefou proves to be a wonderfully willing accomplice to every one of Gaston's oversized schemes.
Together, they give the audience something every musical needs: a villain who is so much fun you almost hate to see him fail. Oh Gaston!
By now you’ve probably discovered that furniture can actually act, so let’s be honest: the humans are going to have to work awfully hard to hold the spotlight.
Danny Gardner's Lumiere is a charmer, bringing an infectious theatricality to the enchanted candelabra, while Javier Ignacio as Cogsworth provides a deliciously fussy counterpoint. Their comic chemistry and timing is precisely the sort of old-fashioned musical-theatre fun that makes BEAUTY AND THE BEAST so appealing.
And Christina Rose Hall as Mrs. Potts gives the evening one of its most touching moments with the timeless love song, “Beauty and the Beast.” When those familiar notes arrive, there is a collective sigh in the theater that probably registers somewhere on the Richter scale. Ms. Hall sings the song with warmth and sincerity, reminding us why it won the Academy Award and why it has become one of the most recognizable love songs in the Disney canon.
Of course, there is no getting around the elephant—or rather, the enchanted dining room—in the room: “Be Our Guest.” It remains the production's great theatrical showstopper, and director/choreographer Matt West knows exactly what to do with it.
A large cast of enchanted castle objects—including plates, forks, knives, and napkins—execute synchronized, rapid-fire footwork and precision kick-line formations that build in scale as the song progresses, ultimately incorporating intricate tap-dancing routines performed by a charismatic Lumiere and ensemble. It is exuberant, eye-popping and gloriously excessive in a massive, multi-tiered collaboration using the show’s new lighting effects, smoke and grand scenic pieces. It may even be just a little bit insane. In other words: perfect musical theater.
The production's visual design is equally impressive. Stanley A. Meyer's sets create a visually rich world that moves effortlessly from provincial village to enchanted castle, while Ann Hould-Ward's Tony Award-winning costume designs provide a feast for the eyes. Natasha Katz's lighting adds atmosphere and theatrical magic, and the projections, hair, makeup and illusions combine to make the transformation from human to enchanted object (or vice versa) feel considerably more convincing than it has any right to be.
And let's pause for a moment to appreciate the illusions. Because when your story requires a human being to become a beast and household objects to become human, the stage crew deserves its own curtain call.
The production also benefits from some impressive continuity with the original Broadway incarnation. Longtime Menken collaborators Michael Kosarin and Danny Troob are part of the musical team, and Jim Steinmeyer, who created the illusions for the original 1994 production, returns as illusion designer.
That's not just a nostalgic footnote. It gives this new production a genuine connection to the show that helped establish Disney as a major force in live musical theater.
The score, naturally, remains the real star.
Menken and Ashman's “Belle,” “Gaston,” “Be Our Guest” and the title song are now part of the musical-theatre vocabulary. Menken and Tim Rice's additional songs for the stage—including “If I Can't Love Her” and “A Change in Me”—expand the emotional landscape and give the central characters room to grow beyond the confines of the original film. And that may be the secret to why BEAUTY AND THE BEAST continues to work so beautifully.
Underneath all the spectacle, the talking teacups, dancing silverware, enormous costumes, romantic ballads and one extremely hairy leading man, this is still a story about looking beyond appearances. It asks whether we can recognize something worthwhile in someone—or something—that initially seems frightening, ridiculous or simply different. And that's a pretty good message for a musical.
So if you have been waiting for Disney to bring this musical back to the North American road, the wait is officially over. The castle doors have opened, the candles are lit, the orchestra is playing, Gaston has found a mirror and Lumiere is ready to show you to your table. Just don't be late.
Dinner is now served—and judging by the applause, Costa Mesa has come hungry.
DISNEY THEATRICAL GROUP & SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS—BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by HOWARD ASHMAN & TIM RICE; Book by LINDA WOOLVERTON; Production Originally Produced by Thomas Schumacher; Scenic Design STANLEY A. MEYER; Costume Design ANN HOULD-WARD; Lighting Design; NATASHA KATZ; Sound Design JOHN SHIVERS; Hair & Make-Up Design DAVID H. LAWRENCE; Illusion Design JIM STEINMEYER; Projection/Video Design DARREL MALONEY; Movement Coordinator LORENZO PISONI; Music Director/Conductor DAVID ANDREWS ROGERS; Orchestrations DANNY TROOB; Music Supervision and Arrangements MICHAEL KOSARIN; Production Conceived by ROB ROTH; Directed and Choreographed by MATT WEST.
CAST—Enchantress: KATE WESLER; Beast: FERGIE L. PHILIPPE; Belle: KYRA BELLE JOHNSON; Bookseller: BEN SEARS; Lefou: HARRY FRANCIS; Gaston: STEPHEN MARK LUKAS; Village Lasses: MELAINA RAIRAMO, JASMINE PEARL VILLAROEL, KATE WESLER; Maurice: AARON KABURICK; Cogsworth: JAVIER IGNACIO; Lumiere: DANNY GARDNER; Babette: CAMERON MONROE THOMAS; Mrs. Potts: CHRISTINA ROSE HALL; Chip (at certain performances): LEVI BLAISE COLEMAN; Chip (at certain performances): KANOA EDGAR; Madame: JILLIAN BUTLER; Monsieur D’Arque: SPENCER DEAN
Ensemble: KOLTEN BELL, BENJAMIN CHENG, SPENCER DEAN, JULIAN MARCUS De GUZMAN, MICHAEL DIKEGOROS, MASUMI IWAI, EMILY LARGER, MELAINA RAIRAMO, GRACE MARIE RUSNICA, BEN SEARS, JASMINE PEARL VILLAROEL, KATE WESLER
Voice of Prologue Narrator: ANGELA LANSBURY
SWINGS: VINNY ANDALORO, LEIGH-ANN ESTY, LENA MATTHEWS, CALEB McARTHUR, ELLEN ROBERTS, MICHAEL SELTZER VACATION STANDBY: Beast/Gaston: DEVIN ARCHER
VACATION SWINGS: BRIANNA ASCIONE, KRISTEN SMITH DAVIS, MATTHEW MARVIN, CARSON HAMPTON PALMER.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will play in Segerstrom Hall through October 11th. Performance times are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30PM, Saturdays also at 2PM, Sundays at 1PM and 6:30PM. Tickets can be purchased at scfta.org
CHRIS DANIELS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWER
THE SHOW REPORT
PHOTO CREDITS: MATTHEW MURPHY
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