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Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast is a perfect example of the idea that you don't need a Tony Award for Best Musical to be a boffo box office hit. The Alan Menken/Howard Ashman/Tim Rice musical opened recently at the Music Hall (part of Dallas Summer Musicals current season) to a packed house; many in attendance were little girls dressed in adorable gowns and dresses, imitating our heroine Belle. Back in 1994, Beauty and the Beast was nominated for a Best Musical Tony Award, with its main competition being Stephen Sondheim's Passion. This happened during the time the mayor of New York City was Rudy Guliani, a man who was determined to clean Times Square of its hookers, adult shops, drugs, and other seediness. He also allowed Disney to clean up part of the Times Square area and open shop. Many New Yorkers felt as though part of the city's real life was being discarded to make way for a Disney cleansing. On that Tony night, it was Sondheim's Passion that took home the Tony. Beauty and the Beast was able to take one award - Best Costumes. Many felt it was a slap to Disney from the theater community to let them know not to come onto their turf and create theme park shows. But Disney seems to have the last laugh. Beauty and the Beast is still on Broadway, while Passion closed as a commercial failure. Disney came back with The Lion King and Aida, both hugely successful and still running. This was my third visit to the enchanted kingdom of a selfish prince who becomes a half man/half beast with Michael Bolton hair for not seeing the beauty inside a person. The national tour has been scaled down drastically in all areas: sets, costumes, and cast. But the heart of the piece still remains intact. Roger Befeler, an ensemble member of the first national tour, has graduated to the role of the Beast. Befeler brings a high, energetic overtone to the creature. He also has a firm, furry grasp on the creature's walk, grunts, and the grace of an animal caught in a gilded cage. While we don't see his face until the very end, he is magical in the role. However, his vocals are lackluster at best. The actor warbles with a machine gun vibrato that severely wounds his ballad, "If I Can't Have Her." He does not possess a surefire belt within his vocal range, which hurts his performance. But his dead-on comic timing and energy work hard to allow you to overlook this flaw. Jennifer Shrader is winsome as Belle, our lady in distress, though at times she is surrounded by performers who give bigger than life performances, causing her to disappear on stage. She is equipped with a golden set of pipes, though, which are put to perfect use here. My personal favorite is her rendition of the ballad "A Change in Me." This ballad was written specifically for Toni Braxton when she portrayed Belle on Broadway a couple of years ago, and has been added to the tour. Befeler and Shrader both provide solid chemistry in their relationship of creature and damsel, which gives the fairy tale its heart. Rob Lorey portrays Lumiere, the candlestick that seems to be channeling Maurice Chevalier. Lorey is humorous, but the actor seems to hit and miss with his comic timing, pace, and characterization. I've seen other actors give Lumiere a scene stealing, gut splitting performance, but here Lorey seems to only give a performance of what is written on paper, instead of adding sparkle and larger than life comedic compartments (i.e. pace, facial expressions, timing). Mind you, he is funny, but his is not a laugh fest performance as in the past. Another problem is with the execution of Matt West's choreography, for example, in the number "Be Our Guest." Ken Nagy and Josef Reiter play Salt and Pepper. In previous Beauty and the Beast productions, these two characters are played like Russian gymnasts. This time around they are not, and Nagy and Reiter also seem to be off the beat of the music, often off with each other as well as with the dance steps. Instead of being a mirror image of each other, they look clunky and unbalanced. Delivering delightful performances, though, are Andrew Boyer (Cogsworth), Tracy Generalovich (Babette), and Mary Jo McConnell (Mrs. Potts). Alas, Aldrin Gonzalez is horribly miscast as Lefou, Gaston's sidekick. The actor must have been cast for his ability to bring the physical aspects to the role, but he is lacking in comedic timing, pace, and facial expressions. Gonzalez does not provide layers of assorted facial expressions or characterization; instead, his is a one-tone performance of "get hit, react the same way, and fall." That gets very dull by the fourth or fifth time. When he reprises this routine again in the second act, you can feel the audience become numb and bored with his performance. The cartoonish sound effects added to the punches and slaps that Lefou receives wound his performance even further. When all of these factors are added together, Gonzalez comes close to giving a theme park performance. This leaves the two star performances of the night - that of Marc G. Dalio as Gaston and Monica M. Wemitt as Madame de la Grande Bouche. Dalio is actually much shorter than previous Gastons I have seen, but what Dalio lacks in height, he makes up in his hilarious comedic performance as the egotistical, self-loving muscle god, Gaston. Dalio's black, sky-high pompadour will remind you of Elvis right off. The actor also comes equipped with some rippling muscles, which he uses to uproarious effect. Dalio is gifted with a face that can go from leading handsome man to bumbling idiot in a second. His right on target comic timing, pace, energy, facial expressions and dazzling stage presence make him a major highlight of the evening. Also providing a scene stealing, hysterical performance is Ms. Wemitt as the grand opera diva who has been transformed into a sequined armoire. The role has no major solo or duet, but after Wemitt's solid comedic work in this role, the character demands an aria! Wemitt displays a sublime sense of comic timing and pace. The girl knows how to wring laughs, even with her throwaway lines. Her sassy, brassy comic overtones are reminiscent of Sophie Tucker and the bawdy Bette Midler. The major surprise within this production was how much they have scaled down the physical aspects of show from its first national tour. The original tour set was a massive gothic castle with columns, arches, gargoyles, mini staircases, and ornate décor trimmed in gold. This time around they have stripped away the middle section and painted a scenic backdrop in its place. They now have four lit columns, each with a gargoyle. These are moved back and forth to show different rooms and halls within the castle. It might remind you of the four towers with lights used in Dreamgirls. Also gone is the beautiful garden in which we see our two leads rest after dancing in the grand ballroom during the ballad, "Beauty and the Beast." This garden was a sweeping arch of marble columns with roses strewn all over. In its place, we have a backdrop of blue stars and a huge moon. Also, in the original tour village set, the villagers could actually poke their heads out the windows. This time around, painted, flat units are used. Costume-wise there is still the glittery finery designed by Ann Hould-Ward that won the Tony. But, looking back at pictures from the first and second national tours, it can be seen that adjustments have been made here as well. Belle's gown is extremely toned down. Also, the human objects' had much more beading, sequins, satins, silks, and gold woven into their colorful costumes than what the current tour characters are wearing. Not to say that the costumes in this tour are not beautiful - they are, but they seem to have been toned them down considerably from the first two tours. Minor flaws which result from transforming an animated film to a fully staged musical are still noticeable. A perfect example is the attack of the wolves. These are ensemble members dressed in hand-me-downs from a bus and truck tour of Cats to resemble wolves. Also, the fight choreography and movement simply looks amateurish and ridiculous, causing stifled laughs within the audience. All said, this production will still be a sparkling joy for the first time observer. Judging from the reactions of the children in the audience, they loved every second of it. I still get a lump in my throat when Mrs. Potts sings the title song, and when the beast becomes a prince, and Chip runs to momma. Even the most cynical, cold heart will melt at these and other moments within this classic fairy tale musical. Beauty and the Beast presented by Dallas Summer Musicals will continue to play at the Music Hall at Fair Park through July 6th. For tickets call 214-631-ARTS or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Also go to any ticketmaster outlet including Foley's, Fiesta, Wherehouse Music, Tower Records or the Majestic Theatre. |
