I don't disagree with you guys, but on some level I respect her and the people who cast her for making such a bold choice. It might have sucked, but they certainly had the audacity to take a big risk in trying something new. I sort of admire their efforts to pull off such an original character definition for Belle, even if they ultimately didn't pull it off.
I thought she was pretty awful in the role for the same reasons discussed here already, but my very young nephew caught her eye during the curtain call & she waved to him We were in the front row (well actually second, the front row was unsold)sitting dead center). He bragged about it for weeks afterwards, so I have that positive memory of her performance.
Saw Susan Egan, Kerry Butler, Sarah Uriarte Berry & Debbie Gibson as well. They were all good.
The last time I saw Beauty and the Beast was the last performance at The Palace with Andrea McArdle as Belle. I really liked her.
I had seen the show numerous times prior to that, including one performance with Toni Braxton. I didn't care for her at all, but it reconnected me with a foreign exchange student I met when I was in high school (some 19 years prior). We had been sitting next to each other, not knowing we already knew each other. We talked prior to the show and then as we were walking out. Once he mentioned Paris and his first name did we finally make the connection. I'm still in touch with him to this day.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
Well I say yes because people behind the scenes got to call it "Braxton and the Beast." AND THEY DID.
That show really went off the casting rails. Andrea McArdle was nearly 40 when she played Belle! That was a stretch. Oy, and then that Sopranos girl was in it after that and her Beast was way older.