Beauty and the Beast mini-tour (with video link]- Page 2

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 1:14am

Yeah i heard it's coming to Atlanta. Is it a fullscale production? non-equity? Or what. She has a great voice. She's got a killer belt.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 1:21am

It can't be non-Equity. Look at the cast.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 1:31am

it's an equity msua tour. it's a contract very similar to the tiered production contract. the cast is great. unfortunately, the sets and costumes for this production came from music theatre wichita and they are the weakest part of the show. it's still a pretty production though. we also don't have the crazy disney magic like fireballs and pyro shooting out of everyone's butts which makes it easier to focus on the wonderful story of this show. no matter what people say about disney, they did a good job putting this one onstage. great songs and a strong book with a lot of heart.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 1:38am

sounds cool. I really would like to see another production of this.

[misto625]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 2:11pm

I know! I want to see this show too! What does MSUA stand for? Any chance you guys can do this again next summer at different cities?

[nycdncr]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:31pm

MSUA stands for Mobile Stock/Unit Attraction. Basically it's a regional tour contract. Not many tours go out under this contract at all anymore.

We opened at Wolftrap tonight....great audience! It's really wonderful when, after performing for two and a half hours dressed as plates, forks, knives, spoons, wolves, etc, and dancing your butt off (outside in the heat at this venue, no less), you see little girls dressed as Belle smiling and clapping. That single moment makes it all worth it.

[Edw3rd]

Posted: 9/3/06 at 6:29pm

It's exciting to read it's a really great cast...Patti does look/sound like a great Belle. We're hoping they announce half price rush tix for either Sat or Sun matinee so I can take the kids.

Enjoy ATL while you're here!

[stonewall2]

Posted: 9/3/06 at 7:01pm

I bought our tickets the morning they were available. Honestly, I must have seen this show 15 times, but it always brings a smile...

[Holly Therese]

Posted: 9/3/06 at 7:15pm

No Detroit...not that I'm shocked or anything

[masterthes]

Posted: 9/4/06 at 12:56am

I really wish I could see this. I'm so glad for Patti, she really deserves this, and hopefully this opens the door for bigger and better stuff, and her voice has really improved since high school

Posted: 9/4/06 at 1:00am

I know this sounds odd, but does Patti work at that small Broadway store near The Shubert, because the girl who was working there when I went in about a week ago was going on tour with BATB as Belle and her bf was playing The Beast.

Is this the same tour or am I just crazy?

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 9/4/06 at 1:04am

I saw Theatre of the Stars present, what I assume is, a basic facsimile of this show last January in Atlanta. Everyone's favorite belle was belle in this show and I'm wanting to know if TOTS had a borrowing/rental agreement with Disney for the Belle costumes considering this actress had just completed the run on Broadway. From the looks of it, the belle costumes were identical to those of the broadway show, not just in color and form, but right down to the same patterns ont he material. I've seen the shwo so many times in NYC I can spot genuine BATB costumes pretty well. Does anyone know the answer to this?
Updated On: 9/4/06 at 01:04 AM

[dancinfan]

Posted: 9/4/06 at 8:26am

I think you're talking about Christy Carlson Romano, and I did hear that she might have made some kind of deal with Disney about using her Broadway blue dress for that TOTS production. But that was just her. Ms. Murin will undoubtedly be wearing the costumes that come with the Music Theatre of Wichita rental package.

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 9/4/06 at 11:12am

Should be interesting at the Fox. Since the set's the weakest part of the show, it might look odd with the small Fox stage and the BIG BIG BIG theatre seating area. I'm excited nonetheless.

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 9/4/06 at 12:24pm

Yeah, I could tell that it was only her who possibly had a costume from the Broadway show. With regards to the set and the stage size, the set size wise looked ok on the FOX's stage. You must remember that you have to grade any production on how it looks at the Fox on a curve as the stage is 79.5 feet wide and only 34 ft deep from the plaster line to the back wall. Just about any show there looks kinda funny and has to be seriously masked in. The weak part about this set was the fact that it looked like pastel paint was on sale and those are the only colors they used. The colors became washed out much of the time and the forced perspective used on the set was off a lot as well.

[boy_blake]

Posted: 9/6/06 at 8:58pm

I saw the show last night, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Not that I expected it to be bad, at all, I was just going into thinking it would be just another “Beauty and the Beast”. Either I wasn’t paying attention the previous times I’ve seen the show, or it just didn’t catch my attention, but there were so many more comedic moments thrown into this production! Patti Murin was beyond wonderful as Belle; her voice was perfect and she’s a great actress. Tony Lawson as Gaston really stole most of the show, in my opinion. I’m a huge fan of subtle character humor and he was the definition of just that- I loved him. Bernardine Mitchell as Mrs. Potts was great- she has a very smooth, easy to listen to voice. (“Beauty and the Beast” was flawless.) And Michael Halling as the Beast was fantastic. When I say I was pleasantly surprised, a lot of it was because of what I was expecting the sets and costumes to be like, mainly after Matthew’s posts. And though they were in no way near what’s on Broadway, they were not bad. I didn’t feel at any time that they took away from the show. There were a few technical difficulties, but that’s to be expected, I imagine, in the first show at a new theatre. (Some of the drops went up and down in the middle of scenes, some set pieces moved on too soon and then were taken off…) All in all it was a really fun show! I’d go back, haha. The reason I went to see the show in the first place was because of Paige Price. And of course she was perfect as Babette. This summer I did the Triple Threat Academy camp in Atlanta with her, Norm Lewis, Dave Barrus, and Adam Hunter. So she spent a week teaching us some dance stuff, and then at the end they (being the people I just listed) put on a benefit concert and Paige produced and starred in it. So it was really awesome to see her again. She’s the nicest, most wonderful person. And, Matthew Kilgore as Young Prince/Wolf/Enchanted Object is a must see!

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 9/6/06 at 9:37pm

blake,

Thanks for the update.

You are making me think that I *must* go see the tour when it gets to Hershey, PA which is the closest it comes to me.

I've only seen it once, and it was on Broadway. But we - my family & I - were not impressed. Maybe the reason was because we had lousy seats, and the 2nd understudy for Belle was on. For some reason, I don't have the Playbill for this show to see who it was we saw.

Has any of the cast members been featured on any of the TV programs in Atlanta?

[boy_blake]

Posted: 9/6/06 at 9:54pm

No problem!

I'm not sure, really. I haven't had a whole lot of time to watch tv lately. I imagine since last night was the opening night in Atlanta, if they're going to be featured it would be sometime soon.

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 9/6/06 at 10:25pm

I'll be there closing night on Sunday! I'm excited. Should put a closing on a kinda-sorta-stressful weekend. (audition Friday, EEEP)

Updated On: 9/7/06 at 10:25 PM

[nycdncr]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 12:52am

blake,

thank you for the kind words about our show. we did have a lot of tech glitches the night you were there. all are fixed now. unfortunately what happened was load in was running late, and the tech crew didn't get a chance to run any of the scenic elements. it was a circus backstage last night.

glad you enjoyed it. i think bernadine is amazing too. she's one of my favs.

[boy_blake]

Posted: 9/7/06 at 3:14pm

I see! Well, you guys definitely covered nicely ON stage. It was great.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 10:55pm

Came across this article the other night -- is this photo from the same production? I haven't found any production photos yet to compare.

http://www.thecitizen.com/node/9848

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 11:22pm

I think that photo isn't from this tour just because that doesn't look like Patti Murin from what I saw of her on the TV link, but nycdncr will know for sure.


And I found that Patti has a Myspace.
www.myspace.com/patriot134

[nycdncr]

Posted: 9/9/06 at 12:02am

That photo is from Theater of the Stars' last production of BATB with Christy Carlson Romano and Burke Moses. We recently did a photo shoot, so publicity shots should start surfacing.

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 9/12/06 at 7:59am

a review from Vienna, VA
http://www.potomacstages.com/TheaterArchives/Wolf-FileneArchive.htm

I can't seem to find one for Atlanta.