My review of today's matinee of Beauty and the Beast

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 11:30pm

When I was 6, it was my first show (at the Palace).
When I was 10, I saw it a second time (at the Lunt), after I started singing.
Now that I'll be 18 in a week, I saw it for the last time- and enjoyed it the most.

Even though there were two understudies on (Gaston and Lumiere), the cast as a whole was absolutely wonderful. Anneliese van der Pol gave an incredible performance as Belle. I was surprised with how legitimate her voice was, and particularly how strong her head voice was. She truely embodied the character, and was the best Belle I've ever seen. Steve Blanchard was every bit as good as he was in 1996, and did not phone in his performance at all. His acting was terrific, and his singing voice was great, even though he should have used it more. The Gaston understudy was outstanding, and probably the best actor and singer in the cast. At some points, I actually felt like rooting for Gaston. I can not imagine the full-time Gaston being any better. On the other hand, the Lumiere understudy, while a good actor and singer, floated in and out of his French accent, which reminded me of Otto the bus driver from "The Simpsons". Mrs. Potts and Madame de la Grande Bouche stole the show, and the rest of the supporting players were very good. I must say that the vocals in today's performance were superior to those on the OCR (except for the ensemble occasionally sounding weak), and the orchestra sounds the fullest of any I've heard on broadway. My only problem was that that the mics were a little low at some points, but I could always hear everything. The staging is different from how I remember it, particularly Gaston's fall. I remember seeing him falling from a tall tower, but today he sort of fell offstage. Did they change it even after the move to the Lunt? There were a ton of young, tiny children in the audience, who seemed to enjoy the show. Their murmurs took some getting used-to, but it was fine. I sat in the third-to-last row of the mezzanine, but I was able to see everything and did not feel "miles" away from the stage. All in all, it was a terrific afternoon of theater, and I will miss "Beauty and the Beast" terribly.

Wow, was that stream-of-consciousness.

[Mouses Magic]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:24am

Glad you enjoyed the show! Gonna be sad to see it go but can't wait for THE LITTLE MERMAID :)

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:26am

im glad you enjoyed it! i saw it twice and loved it more the second time. it's too bad though because I would have loved to see it was van der pol, but she was out in la somewhere ahah. so I saw it was her u/s, michelle shrader who was amazing! i might see it once more sro! =D

[srgr8]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 2:43am

Thanks for the review. I'm going to see it again 3 days before it closes and am hoping for the same quality experience! It will surely be missed, if only as being a great introduction to Broadway (but hopefully much more)!

[dancinfan]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 10:21am

I think you mean Jennifer Shrader.
I would love to hear who the Gaston understudy was who was so good.

The fall from the tower has never really changed except when the set was broken and the buttress/tower piece doesn't actually come onstage. If the tower was there, then he fell, but you are right that he seems to fall farther into the wings than he used to at the Palace, where the stage was wider and the setpiece was shorter and a bit steeper.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 10:32am

I know you saw the Lumiere understudy, but is John Tartaglia still with the show?

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 10:44am

No. I'll look up his name later.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:38am

According to the Disney on Broadway website, the current Lumiere is David DeVries, and his understudies are Bill Nabel and Chris DeAngelis.

Ah, I bet the Gaston understudy you loved was James Paterson. He's also a great Beast cover. Updated On: 7/15/07 at 11:38 AM

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 7:35pm

Yes, I saw Chris DeAngelis and James Patterson.

[belleNbeast]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:01am

I'm happy that you enjoyed the show, however, I couldn't disagree with you more about Anneliese's performance. Although she is talented, she is a terrible Belle. I saw the show on Friday evening, also my third time seeing it, and it was the worst one that I've seen. Overall, the show was weak, and I can't help but think the whole show has suffered because of Miss van der pol. She demonstrated during her performance that she hasn't a clue about the character that she is playing. Belle is supposed to be kind, optimistic, independent, etc. Instead, she played a very solemn character with more of a woe-is-me type of attitude. For example, in the very beginning when Belle is telling the baker about the latest story she has read and the baker basically ignores her, Anneliese acted angry. Belle should've just shrugged it off and been on her merry way. Little things like that happened from beginning to end. Anneliese barely smiled at all during the show. She appeared miserable throughout, instead of light-hearted. She forced herself to crack a smile for a split second when the audience gave her a standing ovation at the close of the show. However, fans were just disappointed when they gathered outside the stage door, b/c she couldn't give anyone the time of day... not even the kids. Pretty crappy if you ask me.

Everyone is entitled to a bad day, but as far as I'm concerned, it is her obligation to put 200% into every performance. I would have preferred to see an understudy who would've given it their all instead of the mediocre performance I witnessed. I am a huge fan of BATB, and I feel so robbed that my last experience resulted the way it did. I'm also sad for all the other true BATB fans who will also say farewell to the musical w/ Anneliese in the lead. I am really left wondering who hired this girl? Perhaps they've never seen the movie or the play before! I'm so thankful that the previous times I've seen the show, it was fabulous and completely met my expectations.

Again, glad you enjoyed it, but I can't believe we saw the same person within 24 hours of each other. Perhaps my expectations are too high? For all the fans out there, I hope I caught her on a exceptionally bad day, and that she will really do the character justice in its final weeks.
Updated On: 7/16/07 at 11:01 AM

[dancinfan]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 8:32pm

It actually sounds to me like Ms. Van Der Pol has suffered from bad direction. She could probably play Belle as a more positive, hopeful heroine if someone has told her to.

[belleNbeast]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 9:01pm

Yeah, I would think she could be a more successful Belle if someone told her... I just wonder if someone has and if not, someone should! Some of the other things I've read about her gave me the impression that she might be a bit of a 'diva', so who knows how she would take such constructive criticism. I would tell her if I had the chance! :)

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 9:07pm

BelleNbeast, we must have seen two totally different performances. I can't even disagree with you because everything you saw was totally different from what I saw. Possibly, she felt bad for not giving it her all Friday and gave some extra Saturday afternoon. I actually specifically noticed her smiling quite a bit, because someone else said what you did. She was a little less peppy than the other Belles I've seen, but I thought it worked well for the character. I guess either you saw her on a bad day or I saw her on a good day (probably both).

[belleNbeast]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 8:38am

Who knows! Again, I'm glad you enjoyed the show and I'm glad my past experiences were good ones. I hope Anneliese pulls herself together for the final shows.