Artist:
Beauty and the Beast Tour
Genre: Broadway
Background: The stirring
music, brilliantly colored costumes and
lights, and a cast of young performers ready
to “cut loose” makes this show
a very enjoyable evening. Despite the grim
story, Disney has managed to make this an
evening of almost uninterrupted sweetness
and light. The bewitched Beast dwells in
a dark castle with a magic mirror, awaiting
true love - the beautiful daughter of a
local inventor knocks on the door, and the
story begins.
The plot is taken off the Disney story.
A price is changed into a beast and told
that before the last petal falls from an
enchanted rose he must find true love. Belle
lives in a little down where she is seen
as odd by all but Gaston, a handsome, egotistical
man who wants to marry her. Her father,
an inventor, goes off into the woods with
an invention and gets lost, stumbling upon
the Beast's castle. The clock and candlestick
welcome him, but when the beast finds him,
he is locked up. When Belle finds out, she
rushes to his aid and trades her freedom
for her fathers. The beast is harsh at first
but eventually the two develop something
more. When it looks as if the beast has
found true love, he lets Belle go and Gaston
leads a raid on the beast's castle. In a
final battle Gaston dies and the Beauty
and the Beast live happily ever after.
This lavish production (one of the longest-running
shows on Broadway) may be a bit "theme
park" for theater snobs, but it seems
to work for audiences. The show includes
the well-loved "Be Our Guest"
number (dancing plates, talking tea kettles,
and all), and a transformation moment that
always seems to deliver the appropriate
oohs and aahs.
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