Beauty and the Beast national tour - My Reivew

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 1:19am

I just got back from the NetWorks touring production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Going in I was not expecting much, but what I saw tonight was the tackiest, most garish production I have ever seen in my life. I do not even know where to begin.

The Cast- The cast was bad. The only standout was Nathaniel Hackman as Gaston. Gabrielle Gamache was on as Belle and I did not care for her performance too much. Her acting was very one dimensional and her singing was pretty, but mediocre. She was by no means terrible, but she was not great either. The Beast was not good either. He added way too much humor to the role and was constantly turning his lines into jokes by adding annoying little motions. Mrs. Potts was probably the worst out of all of them. She sounded like she was attempting to have a British accent, but she didn't. I felt like none of the cast was taking the show seriously. Most of the performances felt phoned in. I would add more names, but I don't have my Playbill in front of me.

The Sets- Wow. The sets for this production are busy and just overflowing with swirls, vines, and what looked like dead flowers. Upon walking in, the audience is greeted with a drop that is covered in brown swirls and plants behind which is visible a highlighter pink projection of a blury rose on a purple backdrop. From here it just went downhill. I do not understand why this production had such a large border of vines, swirls etc. that basically drowned the stage and crammed and confined the action of the plot. The floor of the stage is also covered in these lovely vines and flowers. The library set was by far the worst. It was an arch of books. The backdrop for the village scenes looked like it was a picture a second grader did with colored pencil.

The special effects- I know a lot of people have been asking about the prologue. The prologue is shown through the show drop. When the beggar woman turns into the enchantress the lights go off and a PUPPET of an enchantress shoots into the air. A PUPPET. When she transforms him into a beast they flicker the lights and the beast comes out. They also used puppets for the wolves which looked like giant stuffed animals with not enough stuffing. The enchanted rose was this huge plastic-like sculpture that looked like a toy. The only other special effect was the transformation. The beast lays on a platform as he dies and then he is elevated and turned around a couple times. The lights go off and he takes his mask off. At the show I was at he started taking the mask off before the lights went off.

The sound- This production uses pre-recorded sound effects for everything! Every time Gaston slaps Lefou, a pre-recorded sound effect went off. The beast's roars were pre-recorded and sounded nothing like the actor playing him. The sounds of the wolves sounded like dogs barking.

Costumes- Belle's blue dress made her look like Alice in Wonderland dressed as a dutch milk maid. The dress was short sleved and went a little bit below her knees. The enchated object's costumes were disappointing. Mrs. Potts looked like Little Bo Peep. Babette was wearing a tutu with feathers on it. She did not look like a feather duster. The also changed the pink dress Belle wears in Something There to this lacy purple frock.

Changes to the show- I have no idea why they made some changed. Replacing No Matter What with the dialogue about Belle's mother made no sense. The dialogue just felt out of place. No Matter What really helped establish the relationship between Belle and Maurice for the audience. The only other change that bothered me was cutting the battle between the enchanted objects and the villagers. It was helped transition into the fight Gaston and the Beast had.

Overall, I was not impressed with this production. If you have seen the original Broadway show or a great local production, stay away. I still enjoyed myself because I love Beauty and the Beast, but this production just did not cut for me.

Updated On: 10/25/10 at 01:19 AM

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 1:43am

Ouch. Knowing this was mounted by the original creative team is even worse...

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 1:45am

^ Exactly! I have no idea what happened between the stunning Broadway production and this garish show. I just cannot believe it was the same set and costume designers.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 1:52am

Well I'm seeing this in June so hopefully there is a cast change by then...

[auzziek]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:50am

Thanks for your review. Not surprised the cast is bad. That's what happens when you charge Broadway prices to see a non-Equity cast that isn't paid enough.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 3:59pm

They actually cut the battle scene? Why? How?!? How do they transition from the last "Kill the Beast!" to the fight between Gaston and the Beast?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 4:18pm

Gaston just walked up to the beast and started fighting him right after they broke into the castle. It was not a graceful transition.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 4:32pm

I completely disagree. I saw this tour in July of this year and enjoyed it from beginning to end. I also thought the cast was very strong. It's a shame you did not see Liz Shivener as Belle because her acting choices were terrific and I loved her singing. Justin Glaser tried too hard at times to be funny while he was the Beast, but I till felt sorry for the character because he made his troubles very clear. The sets and costumes worked just fine in the show and they were never unappealing to look at like "The Little Mermaid." The only problem I had with it was the set they used for the library. It was just a tall cardboad that looked like a stack of books. Other than that it's still a terrific production.

"Gaston just walked up to the beast and started fighting him right after they broke into the castle. It was not a graceful transition."

When i saw it the Beast was talking to Lumiere for a minute and then after Lumiere walked off Gaston appeared.



Updated On: 10/25/10 at 04:32 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 4:51pm

Gaston walked in on their conversation after banging on the door and started attacking the beast. It was awkward. I did enjoy the show because I love the story, I was just very disappointed in the production.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 4:51pm

so at the top of act 2.. the beast is chased by puppets instead of actors dressed as wolves?

oh and can someone tell me how this was originally done? i seem to remember that when the show first opened on broadway that the wolf chase/attack scene wasn't done with people in costume... or was i just remembering wrong?? thanks

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 4:55pm

There were actors manipulating the wold puppets. Al the forest scenes were lit very dark and were shown behind the show drop. It was very difficult to see what was going on.

[KirbyCat]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 7:40pm

For the Broadway production, early on in previews (maybe tryouts) they did have puppets, as far as I know. Then for the Palace production, they had very scary glowing masks that actors wore, which were eventually dumbed down and made less scary when they moved to the Lunt.

[minicko88]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 9:06pm

I am in the middle here. I completely disagree about the cast... I found them to be quite good for a regional production. I loved what the Beast did with the role, and Belle sounded very good. The Gaston was the best Gaston I had seen. The set wasn't over the top like the original, but it was sufficient. It accomplished its goals. I agree with you on a few points. The costumes for the prologue and the wolves were tacky. They could have done better with that. The cut stuff made no sense. They should have kept the original battle scene and No Matter What. Also, they also cut out the Mansions de Lunes... which is one of my favorite songs. The pre-recorded sounds and effects weren't spectacular. Overall, I found this to be a fairly good production though. Its a regional production, and I think it accomplishes what it is trying to bring forth.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 9:14pm

^ It is not a regional production. It is national touring production.

Updated On: 10/25/10 at 09:14 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 9:16pm

They cut "Maison des Lunes"?!? I'm not going.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 9:29pm

Yes they did! It was replaced by more awkward dialogue that felt out of place.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 9:37pm

I was debating whether or not to go see it this week. I'm glad I read this thread first because I think I would have been upset about the cuts that have been made.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:16pm

I would definitely not pay full price, especially if you have seen the original Broadway production or national tour. The only way I could recommend this if if you got student tickets. The orchestra seats were $91.25 for a non-equity production. Luckily I only payed $37.50 for my mezzanine seat.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 11:42pm

Had Disney Produced and Remounted the Original the National tour that ran from 1995-2003 that was equity and an exact copy of the Broadway staging this would have been stellar. it's too bad that Tour isn't running today!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 11:47pm

I could not agree more. They should have remounted the original tour and scheduled long engagements. People will see this show. The show I was at was sold out. It has been a while since the original tour and Mary Poppins and Lion King are doing extended runs in every city. Beauty and the Beast should be doing the same thing!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 11:55pm

Except that the Disney equity tour, near the end, was so scaled down that I was a bit disappointed in that too, but it seems to at least have been better than this tour.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 11:57pm

It's sad to hear such bad things (although, not surprising) about this show and yet it is doing really well at the box offices. They've already announced that it will come back to Chicago when it was already here earlier this year.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 10/26/10 at 12:39am

yeah i saw the equity tour towards the end.. man i was disappointed.. i felt like it was just shoddy sets and painted backdrops...

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/26/10 at 12:44am

The scaled back equity tour was way better than this garish thing. I can't believe its coming back to Chicago either. It's a shame they are charging a fortune and marketing it like Broadway when it is not. The show will sell just off the title alone and the producers of this production are definitely taking advantage of that.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 10/26/10 at 10:38am

believe it or not, there are non-equity actors out there that are good...this tour just didn't cast any.


And I saw the original Belle (Liz Shivner?) on this tour and it was not any better.