Those pics don't look great, but the Beast design is definitely an improvement in that we see more of his face. There were so many prosthetics in the original production.
Is there a lot of projection/video work in the scenic design?
That yellow ball gown looks dreadful. And I can't believe that gorgeous mans face is supposed to pass as 'The Beast'. What a sad, cheap looking production this seems to be.
I’m confused - while we didn’t know much about this production prior to these photos being released, they have a yellow dress at the “Disney In the West End” pop-up exhibit (in the Beauty section to promote this specific tour) that isn’t either of the dresses in this show. The one in the pop-up looks better than the ones pictured here (although still not saying much).
Disney will never do this, but they need to reexamine the show from the ground up with a REAL DIRECTOR –– Tina Landau, Michael Arden, John Tiffany, Matthew Warchus, Chris Ashley (yes I know some of those names are stretches) –– and a new design team. Lean into the vibrancy of Lion King (a much bigger hit than Beauty) and not the theme park nature of this and the original Bway Beauty.
I’ve seen the show live and the costumes and set are a lot better in person than they look in photographs. I was a bit ‘meh’ about the photos but when you’re watching the show they look great. I’ve never seen the Broadway or West End version but this is a pretty good show (Gavin Lee does steal the show, Be Our Guest is phenomenal and the tap dancing section is an amazing addition).
The cast are stellar (Courtney’s Belle is now my definitive) although it feels like the show could have gone bigger with some of the direction and design work. Obviously it’s a tour so it can’t be as lavish as a West End or Broadway version, but they go a good job with what they’ve got.
I agree that I would have loved to see someone like Tina Landau take on the show and make something entirely different out of it, but for what it is it’s still a great night of theatre.