Loved it twice
Written: Nov 05 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Entertaining, Fun, quick moving, its Disney
Cons: Theatre seats in general
The Bottom Line: It is a great show, true to the Disney standard of excellence. Going to Broadway was fun. The show is worth seeing in any venue.
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| robpolsky's Full Review: Beauty and the Beast |
Both times I experienced this production I left the theater with a good feeling about the production and the money spent.
My wife, oldest daughter and I went to New York to see this play because my daughter truly enjoys certain Disney productions. We requested special seating due to my daughters "extensive involvement" (mitochondrial myopathy)and were offered tickets near the front of the theater.
We had good seats and could see every facial expression and body movement.
The story line follows a self centered young prince who, while appearing to have it all, is just not a good person on the inside. His encounter with an enchantress results in his being turned into the Beast with external features representing the ugliness he is attributed with having inside.
As the story unfolds, a noble of heart Belle, gradually wears down the hard ugliness and allows the bewitched Beast to experience friendship, hope and love.
The entire cast offered up superb performances. A number of different personalities were portrayed humorously. The town's folk were "go along to get along" types, the true vilian was adored by the town girls, feared by the town guys, and was "positively primeval". The servants of the young prince were also bewitched along with their master for their complicity in his ugliness. Their personalities were reflected in their enchanted form. The personality and enchanted-form relationship was developed just to the point of recognition by the audience and then alluded to thereafter.
The animated film is excellent and contains some great songs. My daughter has seen it 100+ times if she has seen it once. The Disney book closely follows the movie (minus the music). The show on Broadway closely followed the movie. The pleasant surprises were pyrotechnics, additional songs that were not in the movie and the feeling of being there. After the show and after the theater was empty, some of the cast came out to say hi to our daughter. Lumier, Gaston, and Belle visited for a moment each. We took a photo or two.
Whenever our daughter saw the photos of our night in New York, she giggled, her face lit up and she becomes so full of excitement she couldn't contain herself.
When the show came to Philadelphia we went to see it again.
My wife and oldest daughter sat down front in the accessible seating while I and our middle daughter sat way up in the highest balcony in the "less expensive" seats.
The show was Great! Even at altitude, the actors conveyed every gesture, expression and attitude with conviction.
The differences I noticed between the show on Broadway and the show in Philadelphia could be counted on one hand. Both shows were wonderful, complete and spellbinding.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
robpolsky
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Location: SouthEastern Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 8 members
About Me:
Husband, father of three daughters, feeder of one big dog, having some fun at Epinions.
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