BEAUTY is a BEAST - 03/25/07 evening review

MAJOR MAJOR Newsflash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
According to sources, an old beggar woman approached the Lunt-Fontanne asking for shelter. Upon being turned away, she transformed into Ethel Merman and cast a spell over the theatre and all who inhabit its walls. Much of it's cast, crew, and house staff were tranformed into VERY inanimate objects and the physical production and parts of the theatre fell into total disrepair with seats having leg room tighter than a Joan Rivers facelift. She gave the box office as the only way to let the outside world in to see. The only way to break the spell - let the show DIE!

I must keep this short. I am still flustered over the discrage of the performance.. and the show in general, and the ushers lying on the ground in the aisles like they were sunning a beach.. and the woman in front of me (and a good dozen others) who were VIDEO TAPING the show on their camcorders.. and I am still SEETHINg at the confrontation I had to have with the homophobic southern tramp with a bad perm and her brats behind me in the theatre during intermission.

Quite simply, Disney is closing thsis how because it is in total disrepair. It was the worst I have ever seen ANY show. Though I did have to wonder.. maybe Disney never downsized the show when they moved it to the Lunt. Perhaps the cast just chewed so much scenery, they I was seeing all that was left.. pure remnants of its self....

Let me put it bluntly.......

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (at the Palace) - New Orleans

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (at the Lunt) - New Orleans post-Katrina (the PSM, therefore, must be FEMA)

I am posting me GOOD thoughts in a following post in this thread....

Updated On: 3/26/07 at 02:44 PM

Okay.. the good things.

deborah lew was great as belle. my boyfriend made note of the fact, that the only time i smiled during the show, was listening to her rendition of a change in me.

i was sad to miss john tartaglia as lumire. he was why i went. howeverm bret shuford was a highlight of the night in his place, somehow salavaging a disasterously bad perfromance of be our guest, where the sloppy and lazy ensemble could never seem to dance in time with one another, or the music.

jonathan freeman was a great cogsworth.

meredith inglesby, in the inconsequential and very minor role of babette, somehow managed to be the best performer on stage, earning some of the loudest cheers during curtain call. bravo to her.

in the ensemble, connor gallagher, as young prince/doormat, was the lone standout and strong member of perhaps the worst ensemble i have ever seen on a stage anywhere.

the worst pert of the night - a standing ovation. why?!?!?! it saddened me.. SO much.

I saw this back in November and thought it was OKAY. It wasn't ahlf as bad as the train wreck that is TARZAN. *shudders*

I wish I could've seen Johnny T and Jonathan Freeman in it before I left. I went to go see Donny Osmond and then one week later, they announce Johnny T and Jonathan Freeman were going to be in it and it pissed me off. Even though I liked the show, I didn't want to sit through it again.

WARNING: If you decide to go see the show just to see John Tartaglia as Lumire, he won't be doing matinees. He is filming the new season of Johnny and the Sprites. So, your best chance to see him is at an evening performance.

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regardless of how positive or negative anyone's view of tarzan may or may not be in relation to it's physical production.. design, direction, book, etc.. I would challenge anyone to argue me on the following point....

The company of Tarzan is infinately sttronger than the Beauty company, giving much more rounded, high quality performances across the board.. from stars, features, ensemble, etc alike that puts to shame what its being paraded around the stage across the street by the cast of Beauty.

Also remember this is ONE person's opinion.

Johnny and the Sprites is not filming at the moment, so you see how people state things they have no idea about.

The show is still playing at 90% plus, so word of mouth is obviosly still very good.

Updated On: 3/26/07 at 05:32 PM

CurtainPullDowner - Someone who works on the show who I have talked too, told me that they have already started filming.

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Well, I believe your friend is wrong.
And Johnny was officially on vacation all last week so he couldn't have been filming.

That is correct Craig.

Filming for the second season of Sprites starts this summer. Johnny has said so publicly.

Also, if my opion is "that of one person".. let's talk about CATS getting a boost when it closed.. because a long running show was closing.. NOT because word of mouth was good. And I think, for full disclosure, it should be mentioned that certain hard-core supports of Beauty and the Beast, who have come out of the woodword to push it so hard since the closing notice was announced, happen to work for the show. So, you aren't getting an exactly honest opinion there.

well i'll reiterate again... when i saw the show two years ago i was hoping for the worst... but i was pleasantly surprised at how well the company did (except for Steve Blanchard)... they did a wonderful job for a show that had been on for so many years... but the sets did look rather cheap for a broadway production... i was really hoping for a spectacle but was sad i didn't get one (spectacle in the sense of sets and whatnot)...

broadwayguy2... it just plain sucks you saw a horrible performance... from what i hear it's like they go in and out of giving wonderful to phone in performances... but sometimes i don't blame the actors... i blame the people that still let them go on and do the show... oh well...

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (at the Palace) - New Orleans

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (at the Lunt) - New Orleans post-Katrina (the PSM, therefore, must be FEMA)

So awful.

Made me laugh so hard.

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No, Craig... you NEVER sound snarky. Ever.

I'm sorry, but sometimes, when posting from work, I have more than one thing going on. Forgive me.. infalable one.

Oh, bg2. At least this time you didn't post under a different screen name like that time you got all totally freaked out that they cut some costumes from Hairspray. Sheesh, remember that?

Anyway, nice to see you still find something praise worthy in performances by chorus boys you find sexually attractive.

However, ironically, it's actually spelled "infallible."

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