I'll Be Disney's Guest for This Beauty!
Written: Jan 11 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The elaborate special effects
Cons: The added music scores are bland and out of character
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| Angela-C's Full Review: Beauty and the Beast |
I was very curious to see how Disney was going to pull off a staged, musical version of their award winning animated Beauty and the Beast. Already a fan of the original version, I was under the opinion that some things just shouldn't be tampered with.
I was right, in some cases. For example, near the beginning of the show Maurice and Belle sing a duet to each other called "No Matter What" that was completely out of their characters. The tune and lyrics were bland. The same holds true for all of the songs added to the original (animated) version's score. The exception was Gaston's very clever and very conceited "Me". I also found the Beast pale compared to the throaty and powerful animated original Beast.
To dwell on these details, however, seems petty when I remember the magnificence of the rest of the production. The traditionally flashy "Be Our Guest" scene left me with my mouth hanging open and speechless. The costuming was opulent. The dialogue was nearly the same as the movie, but a few hilarious asides were added. There was a decidedly more grown up flavor to stage production.
The version we saw was at the Dominion Theatre in London, so the British accents of the players added an extra element for us. It was strange to hear Belle sounding so (to our American ears) 'proper'. We felt a little like we were watching some elaborate BBC documentary. We enjoyed it nevertheless. I would go to see it again, and am interested now to see Disney's "Lion King" production.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Angela-C
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Member: Angela Cato
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 35 members
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