On Saturday afternoon me, Mama and Margot went to see Beauty and the Beast at Paramount Theatre, Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, Book by Linda Woolverton, directed by Amber Mak.The first thing I noticed was this theatre was gigantic, much bigger than a lot of the theaters that I've been to. The next thing I noticed was that the scenery walls were made of ginormous books that seemed to be a hundred feet tall. I really liked this choice by scenic designer Jeffrey D. Kmeic because it show's Belle's love of books before the play even begins and it also reminds me that this play is based on a book that most people love. I also noticed that when the set pieces moved to create a new scene it moved so smoothly into a new shape and the background changed to create a beautiful picture and it wasn't until Act II that I realized the back wall was projections, it just all blended together so beautifully. I also loved that things fell from the sky like a duck, confetti, petals and a bunch of other stuff and it made me curious as to how it all happened at the exact right time, it felt like magic.
The play was quite different from the animated and live action movies I've seen because they spoke different lines and sang some different songs. It's interesting that all three versions of this Disney story have different songs. I wouldn't say that I prefer one over the other. I really liked the new songs I heard in the musical and I really liked hearing new lines and seeing new things because it made me feel like I was hearing or seeing the story for the first time and I didn't know what to expect. I really liked Gaston's song "ME" which isn't in the movies, it just was so silly that he was singing about all these things that Belle obviously didn't want. I would say that this musical looked more like the live action movie than the animated movie, especially because of the costumes by Theresa Ham. I particularly liked the Lumiere costume which lit up just like a candle and anytime he blew on one of his arms the lights actually went out. I also liked the Cogsworth costume because his mustache actually looked like the hands of a clock, one was short and one was long. My sister's favorite costume was the yellow Belle costume, but she also loved all the dresses Belle wore.
My favorite character was definitely Lumiere played by Jackson Evans because he had all the funny lines. The Beast played by Paul-Jordan Jansen made incredible sounds just like a monster whenever he was angry and it made me wonder how he made those sounds with his voice, because I'm trying and I can't do it. Belle played by Beth Stafford Laird is the one person that made me forget I was watching a play because I could really feel her emotions throughout the play. I could tell she was really sad when her dad left and she was left alone in her room for the first time. I could also tell she was really laughing.The best song of the whole show was definitely BE OUR GUEST. I don't know how they made all the lights of the candles light up at the same time and the dancing napkins were so twirly. I kept wondering how Chips cart was moving. But the best part of all was the confetti cannon at the end of the song. But I was very disappointed that none of the confetti reached us because we were in the middle.
I think that everybody should see this play because it will show them the story that they all like but in real life AND with ACTUAL MAGIC Happening!
I give this play ONE GAZILLION points because it was so funny and beautiful and I have a lot of questions when I left which is the best part of going to theatre.
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Love, Gunnar
