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| PNC Broadway in Louisville's Beauty and the Beast. Photo by Joan Marcus. |
Beauty and The Beast
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice
Book by Linda Woolverton
Directed by Rob Roth
Reviewed by Craig Nolan Highley
Entire contents copyright © 2012 by Craig Nolan Highley. All rights
reserved.
On this past Sunday Broadway in Louisville’s latest offering closed
what I assume was a financially successful run of a new and completely revamped
touring production of Disney’s first theatrical musical, Beauty and the Beast.
The show has been reworked from top to bottom by the original production
team, from the costumes, to the set design, to cuts and additions to the score.
And I was left thinking of the old adage (one that is ironically paraphrased
within the show): if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
To say I was disappointed with the changes is an understatement. The
show holds a special place in my heart; it was the first show I saw on Broadway
during its initial New York run with the original cast (Susan Egan, Terrance
Mann, Tom Bosley, Gary Beach, etc.) and I saw the original touring version
several times. It was a wonderful show, but sadly, NONE
of the changes to the new version are for the best.
First and most unforgiveable, they cut the show’s sweetest number ("No Matter What," a heartfelt ballad
illustrating the love between a father and daughter) and another, more
forgettable one ("The Maison De Lune")
to make room for an unnecessary and instantly forgettable new pop song ("A Change in Me," originally added for
Toni Braxton in her Broadway run). The scenes, which were written to include the
songs, now end awkwardly and abruptly, hurting the flow of the story.
The new costumes by the original designer (Ann Hould-Ward) are pretty
but frequently fail to create a sense of what they are supposed to represent.
The enchanted wardrobe, for example, looks nothing like a wardrobe, more like
what any wealthy woman would be wearing during the French Revolution. The enchanted
feather-duster also looks like nothing more than a French maid’s uniform, with
a few feathers. If you didn’t know who these characters were, you would never
know what they were supposed to be. Similar issues occurred with many of the
other costumes.
The new set designs, again by the original designer (Stanley A. Meyer),
have been so streamlined and simplified that they look no more fanciful than
what you’d see in a good high school theater production. Very little is
three-dimensional, and most are simply painted-on-cardboard illusions. The
library set is a particular disappointment in this regard.
Matt West’s choreography has also been simplified, and again, the
changes are no improvement. How director Rob Roth could have compromised his
original vision with this sell-out of a production is beyond me.
The show is somewhat redeemed by strong performances by nearly
everyone. Hilary Maiberger is lovely and in fine voice as Belle, and she truly
kept me entertained and took my mind off the show’s flaws whenever she was on
stage. Darrick Pead is energetic and sympathetic as the Beast, although he
really needs to reign in the unscripted mugging and milking he did several
times in his funnier moments (a charge I also level at Shani Hadjian as The
Wardrobe). George Hamilton look-alike Hassan Nazari-Robati also stole every
scene as Lumiere.
Overall, the show probably satisfied its target audience of
undiscriminating little girls, but adults used to the original production will
undoubtedly find this lacking.
Featuring Chris Brand, Alyssa Brizzi, Skye Bronfenbrenner, Kieron
Cindric, Taylor D. Colleton, Laura Douciere, Kyle Dupree, Erin Edelle, Matt
Farcher, Shani Hadjian, Amanda Grace Holt, Stacey Jackson, Charlie Jones, Kevin
Kelly, Brian Krinski, Jimmy Larkin, Jessica Lorion, Hilary Maiberger, Brian Martin,
William A. Martin, James May, Stephanie Moskal, Hassan Nazari-Robati, Darick
Pead, Stephen Petrovich, Sarah Primmer, Sean Reda, Andrea Rouch, Michael
Whitney, and Jason Wise.
Beauty and The Beast
October 23 -28, 2012
PNC Broadway in Louisville
The Kentucky Center
501 West Main Street
Louisville, KY, 40202
502-589-7777
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