A Shocking BEAUTY & THE BEAST - 3/6/07

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 5:23am

Because YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING wasn't on TKTS, I decided to dish out $60 to see BEAUTY & THE BEAST before it closed. It's the only Disney show I haven't seen yet on Broadway.

John Tartaglia was out. I hear his french accent is horrific in a funny way. His understudy's accent is horrific in an unfunny way. John T. was out, which I don't mind. I enjoyed him in AVE Q, but aside from that, I need to SEE him in more shows before passing any judgements on his acting ability. I don't understand how after one show he has a fanbase - but that's just me and good for him.

Anyway - the point: I was very impressed with this show! I believe Steve Blanchard was the Beast, and he was awful, IMHO. He did out-of-character campy line readings to get a reaction from the children in the audience. While some of those decisions works, he weakened who the Beast is.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST is one of the best stories I have ever seen. You have the thruline plot of the Castle being under a spell and the Beast needing to learn to love in order to break it; the love story between Belle and the Beast; the Gaston pursuing Belle subplot; and the inanimate objects' desire to be human again. The best thing about the show is how well the book is structured - all loose ends are closed and we care about ALL the characters. We care that they become human again, we care that Gaston gets what is coming to him, we care about Belle and her father, and even the hardest person to "like" - the Beast!

In one word, this show is "enchanting."

The set was great and the special effects spectacular - especially the Beast transformation, as expected by Disney.

The actor who played Maurice was plain awful. Extremely too gimmicky and quirky, which is why I am sure Disney hired him, but it just ruined the Belle/father relationship for me. Aside from the Beast and Maurice, all other actors were great.

I went into the show thinking I was going to hate it. The opposite happened. I can't believe I am saying this, but I LOVED BATB! I'm shocked I am having this reaction!

Oh yes, in conclusion - the actress playing Belle was quite enthralling. I very much appreciated that he put EFFORT into her performance instead of just getting by. This is what is expected of her, but others in the show obviously were doing line readings then exiting and just going thru the motions of the show. The actress playing Belle carried it. The KIDS in the audience actually kept giving her applause *during* the songs "Home" and "Change in Me."

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 5:33am

good to hear... the show is very enchanting... when i saw it on broadway two summers ago i was expecting the worse from what i hear from this board... but i loved it... the only thing i hated was that Steve Blanchard was just boring in the role and talk sang... but other than that... it's a very good musical! so sad to see it's closing...

and i've been going to musicals since 95 (when i started having a job and a car.. haha)... and beauty and the beast was my actual first show i saw in new york (which was also my very first visit to the city)

[dancinfan]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 7:17am

It's good to hear that people can see past some of the bad performances to appreciate the show that has been there all along. I think when people ask why it's been running for so long, the answer is that it's a good show with a good book and good songs, performances and maintenance be damned.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 8:21am

i love BATB. where were u sitting?

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:35am

If you've nver seen the B&W French film of "La Belle & la Bete" I would highly recommend it.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:39am

Oh, by the title of this thread, I thought you were going to say that Belle flashed the audience or something. Glad you liked the show.

[avab802]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:45am

I saw Beauty and the Beast on 3/1 and had pretty much the same reaction. I'd never seen it before, and wanted to do so before it closes, regardless of the bad reviews here. I found it thoroughly enchanting. The woman playing Belle was definitely the stand-out. I also enjoyed the actors playing Gaston, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Babette. John Tartaglia was out when I saw it as well, and his understudy was just ok. I also thought Steve Blanchard was a little weak as the Beast, but the interactions between he and Belle towards the end were nice. Overall I really enjoyed it and am glad I took the time to see it.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:46am

Spider i was expecting somethign along those lines too. Bell popped out during "BATB" or the rug went flying into the orchestra pt and was stabbed by a violin bow.

Glad you enjoyed it though. I remember i didn't want to see it. I ended up loveing it. But that was like ages ago.

[Spacedog78]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:02am

I saw it in January and here was my review:

IT WAS HORIBLE! The cast looked almost as bored performing as I was watching them.

First off, the Beast Steve Blanchard, can't sing, and his acting was crap. He ruined all the tender moments and I couldn't wait for him to leave the stage. He strutted around the stage as if he was this marvelous actor, but the minute he spoke I wanted him to shut up. He broke character so many times! He was very unprofessional. Then when he took his bow, it was as if he just perfromed Shakespeare.

Next, Maurice and Lefou, Jamie Ross and Aldrin Gonzalez, their performances were predictable and not motivated. Everything they did looked rehearsed and planned out and horribley delivered.

Belle, Devorah Lew, singing was tolerable, acting was good, but it wasn't special at all.

Lumiere, John Tartaglia, talked about miscasting. I am not sure if he even knows what a french accent is suppose to sound like, but he was just bad. The only time he got any reaction from the audience was when he broke character.

Overall the chorus was dull, the show was slow, and I just couldn't wait to get out of there. It really pisses me off that these people don't care about their performances and its very clear to the audience. There are plenty of people who would love to be in their places, performing on Broadway and if you are just here for the paycheck then it is time to go.

The same thing happened when I thought I'd check Phantom out. These shows run for years and years with the same cast and it just looses its magic. If I pay to see these shows, I expect to see a good one, I expect them to give a new performance at every show, as if it is the first time they performed it.

Thank God they are closing it. Hopefully some day in the very very far future they can revive it and maybe I can give it another try.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 5:53pm

I will say this, too, about the book:

The second act was very cut-and-paste in some places. Scenes would come out of nowhere.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 6:13pm

Has Steve Blanchard EVER been any good in this role. I know it's been talked about forever around here, but I saw him 6 years ago, and he was awful then.

[Weez]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 6:15pm

'The Mousetrap' is in its 55th year in the West End, and they INSIST on changing the cast every year to keep it fresh. They have a cast-change party with cake and everything. Very nice. It'd be nice if other shows did similar...

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 6:24pm

I saw the show in November and loved it.

After hearing bad things about Steve Blanchard as the Beast for about two years, I had already made up my mind he was going to be dreadful, but he wasn't. Now, I mind you, I'm not saying he gave a performance of a lifetime, but he wasn't as horrible as people made him out to be.

I thought Jamie Ross was pretty bad, and when he came out the stagedoor people cheered for him and he just kept walking. The main thing I remember about him was after the song "No Matter What", he gets lost in the woods and runs away for the wolves screaming...when he ran, it looked like he was jogging and it looked REALLY fake.

Aldrin Gonzalez, IMHO, was fantastic. He and Donny Osmond had a fantastic chemistry.

Donny Osmond and Sarah -- Berry (I forget her name exactly) were both great and although they aren't in the show now, I just wanted to say that.

I forget the name of the guy playing Lumire at the time, but he was magnificent. He looked and sounded EXACTLY like Gary Beach. If you didn't know better, you could swear that WAS Gary up there. The guy playing Cogsworth was...just eh. The kid playing Chip was DREADFUL.

About a week or two later they announced Johnny T and Jonathan Freeman would be taking over and I was pissed, because, even though I liked the show, I didn't feel a desire to see it again so soon. I never got to see either of them before I moved back here from NY.

CapnHook, to answer your question, I have been a fan of Johnny's long before Avenue Q. I am a major Muppet fan and he did a lot of work with them since he was 16 and he is a fantastic muppeteer. And now he has his own TV show, so you need to check that out! I'm not saying that's why everyone here loves him, that's just my reason.

How was Jonathan Freeman Capn?

[srgr8]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 6:38pm

I'm glad you liked it Capn! It was my first musical on broadway (as is the case with many people) and I loved it. Very enchanting. Also a great way to get kids excited about theatre. It is sad to see such a great story close, but it sure had a great run, and maybe someday it'll be revived and come out bigger and better than ever!

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 8:04pm

I've actually always liked the Disney movie better than the Cocteau movie. Of course both have their charms and the former owes a lot to the latter but the Disney movie is probably one of the best film musicals ever, I think, and I just enjoy it more.

Also I think Disney's Belle is much more interesting than Cocteau's Belle.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:23pm

Who did Freeman play?

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:59pm

"Anyway - the point: I was very impressed with this show! I believe Steve Blanchard was the Beast, and he was awful, IMHO. He did out-of-character campy line readings to get a reaction from the children in the audience. While some of those decisions works, he weakened who the Beast is."

It's been like that for a while.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:28pm

Freeman is Cogsworth and probably the Best Cogsworth ever.
Too bad his part in MERMAID is so small.
Grimsby.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:41pm

How long has Steve Blanchard been with the show?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:49pm

since the early 60's?

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/8/07 at 2:02am

HE'S GOING TO BE IN MERMAID!? WHO'S HE PLAYING!?!?

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 3/8/07 at 8:30am

where did you sit in the lunt?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/8/07 at 8:47am

Blanchard's been with the show on-and-off since its days at the Palace.

[Shakespearean]

Posted: 3/8/07 at 9:00am

We went to see Beauty and the Beast the week it opened. I worked around the corner at the time and I remember the horror that Disney had dared to invade Broadway. That said, we thought we should see it before it closed, probably the next week. We did, it didn't, and the rest is, as they say, history.

The show was wonderful. It had catchy tunes, a story that worked, spectacle, brilliant costumes, and heart. It also had an amazing cast that included a personal favorite of mine, Terrance Mann. Now we look back and laugh and remember BatB fondly... and don't think about our last visit last Fall.

This was a testament to what happens to a show when the cast simply doesn't care. Steve Blanchard was simply wretched and the energy just wasn't there. "Be Our Guest" has the zest and energy of "Anatevka" and I found myself yearning to grab my suitcase and head out of town too. Old Yeller was a good dog, Maw, but it's time to put it down...

[Raspberry]

Posted: 3/8/07 at 9:01am

Yeah, I'd also like to know what the seats were like. I've been thinking about seeing this before it closes just because I never have. Where abouts are TKTS seats for a weekday like this?