BWW Reviews: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Oriental - A Step Above Community Children's Theater, But Not By Much

What comes around, goes around. And I'm not just talking about Disney's 18 year-old stage musical, "Disney's Beauty and the Beast," which has returned to Chicago's Oriental Theatre for a six-week engagement.

Composer Alan Menken and the late lyricist Howard Ashman, creators of the off-Broadway hit "Little Shop of Horrors," managed to reinvigorate animated feature films thanks to "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin."

Pure hyperbole? I think not. Lest we forget, 1991's "Beauty and the Beast" was the first animated film ever to be nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Without Menken and Ashmen's contributions, it's doubtful there would be a Pixar to toy with or even a "Lion King" to roar about.

Granted, Menken and Ashman had help from a talent team of Disney animators, but it was the music and lyrics that elevated the work from easily dismissed children's films into emotionally-resonating, cross-generational works of art.

Which brings me back to the current, Non-Equity production residing at the Oriental. This sadsack little production manages to single-handedly undo all that progress by embracing the worst aspects of children's theater: pratfalls, double-takes and cardboard villainy. The only thing missing are a few fart jokes.

It's a step above community children's theater, but not by much. Never has the "poor, provincial town" that is the setting of the show looked so poor or provincial; painted flats masquerading as sets and a grand and foreboding manor replaced by a few interlocking platforms and a ladder staircase.

I'm a big fan of less is more. You can't fault the show's producer, NETworks for being frugal and not spending like Disney Theatricals, I suppose. Less is just less here, though. It all just looks cheap.

The plot (for those who have never seen the movie or show): Belle (the lovely Emily Behny) is ostracized by her fellow villages for being a bookworm, having thoughts of her own and refusing to marry the town's egotistical he-man Gaston (a big voiced but somewhat wooden Logan Denninghoff).

After Belle's father Maurice (Christopher Spencer, in a fine character performance) fails to return from a venture through the woods to a fair to unveil his latest contraption, Belle throws caution to the wind and ventures out alone to search for him.

Her adventure leads her to a castle where she meets a selfish prince who was turned into a beast (Dane Agostinis) as karmaic payback for his lack of hospitality.Also cursed in the deal are the prince's servants who are slowly turning into objects like clocks (a perfectly prissy Benjamin Lovell as Cogsworth), candelabras (a flirtatiously funny Michael Haller as Lumiere) a teapot (the sweet-natured Julia Louise Hosack as Mrs. Potts) and an operatic wardrobe (the scene-stealing standout Jen Bechter as Madame de la Grande Bouche).

For those familiar with the film, before long the whole "tale as old as time" begins to unspool in an expected fashion. Children prone to watching said film over and over again will still be enchanted. Adults will most likely be bored silly.

Behny is a fine Belle with a big voice, but Agostinis' Beast is more cowardly lion than menacing beast. Their collective chemistry was more "tame" than the required "Taming of the Shrew."

Perhaps worse still, on the night I caught the show Agostinis also had problems finding the pitch in the first act-closer "If I Can't Love Her." Normally, it's a touching ballad the ramps up the stakes of the central conflict, but it literally fell flat that night.

The show's climatic transformation scene is still a bit of stage magic that impressed young and old alike. Menken and Ashman's score, which include such toe-tapping numbers as "Belle" and "Be Our Guest" are song with much gusto by the ensemble. Of the additional material written after Ashman's death with lyrics by Tim Rice, "Home" is definitively sung by Behny.

There are worse children's theater performances to take your kids to, but in a town with companies like Chicago Children's Theatre, Emerald City, Lifeline and Short Shakespeare at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (just to name a few), there's certainly better things, too.

"Disney's Beauty and the Beast" runs through Aug. 7 at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph. Tickets, $18-$85. Call (800) 775-2000; broadwayinchicago.com.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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