BWW Reviews: Touring BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Missing Some of its Fairy-Tale Enchantment

When the Walt Disney Company released Beauty and the Beast in 1991, the film was hailed as a masterpiece of cinema. The breathtaking animated sequences and glorious score earned six Academy Award nominations (including "Best Picture," the first such honor for an animated film) with two wins for "Best Original Score" and "Best Song."

Famed New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich called Beauty and the Beast "the best Broadway musical of the year," a fitting and, ultimately, prophetic compliment. Beauty was indeed destined for the Broadway stage, and a live-action adaptation came to life on the boards of the Palace Theatre in April of 1994. The production would become the eighth longest-running show in Broadway history and was still going strong when it was closed in 2007 to make way for a stage version of another Disney animated classic, The Little Mermaid. Disney also mounted three touring companies of Beauty and the Beast in the United States (1999-2003) and the show has been staged internationally in 21 countries.

The tour currently playing the Providence Performing Arts Center is a non-Equity, non-replica production presented by NETworks. While the basic storyline and most of the songs are the same, the show does not retain its original staging and costumes. The NETworks creative team includes members of the original Broadway production and the new tour has some striking visual aspects, though sets are far smaller and much less grand in scale than the original Broadway design.

The Enchanted Objects of the Beast's castle - particularly Lumiere the candelabra and Cogsworth the mantel clock - have impressively-detailed costumes and are easily-recognizable as their cartoon counterparts. The stage production also anticipates questions as to the Enchanted Objects' human size by explaining that their transition from mortal beings to material objects happens gradually as the spell grows stronger with each passing year.

Despite its Disney pedigree, this current tour runs into difficulties early on. A major problem with the sound system gives the musical numbers a sharp, tinny quality and also muffles dialogue so greatly that entire conversations are inaudible.

As the Beast, Darick Pead - though beginning his performance with a dramatic entrance and great, growly opening lines - seems doubly hampered by the muddled audio and his costume's facial prosthetics. Pead's voice comes through clearly only during a reprise at the finale, after he "transforms" from beast back to man; as the Beast, his big songs "How Long Must This Go On?" and "If I Can't Love Her" sound more akin to speak-singing.

Brian Krinsky, an understudy for the role of Gaston, fares the best of the leading cast members both in his musical numbers and characterization. Krinsky stole the show with his rich, booming voice and lots of personality, playing Belle's self-centered, would-be suitor with just the right balance of ridiculousness, vanity, and danger.

The tour's Beauty, Hilary Maiberger, has a pleasing singing voice and facets of Belle's personality and spunk shine through, but for the most part, leading-lady Belle is too often overshadowed by her scene partners, broadly-drawn characters that are presented as caricatures of their film equivalents. Lefou, dim sidekick and comic co-conspirator to the egotistical Gaston, is reduced to making pratfalls in each and every one of his scenes, a bit of physical comedy that quickly becomes tiresome. Similarly, the trio of lovesick, silly girls who pine after Gaston serves no other purpose than to throw high-pitched temper tantrums and whine childishly. Some characters' lines and movements take on a more adult tone, generally played for laughs with a wink to the audience.

Even the Beast and the Enchanted Objects fall victim to over-exaggerated mannerisms and slapstick routines. For example, the Beast and his servants engage in deep breathing exercises when Belle refuses to come down for dinner, entirely losing the story-building tension of the scene.

Depictions of violence are also more prominent in this production. Admittedly, Gaston is an intimidating bully who manhandles anyone and everyone in his path; yet just before he leads a mob of villagers in an attack on the Beast's castle, he very nearly strikes Belle in the face. Only the startled gasps of the townsfolk (and the audience) stay his hand.

More concerning, the Beast has several aggressive altercations with Belle. The Beast's presence can and should be threatening when he is first introduced, but in this production he physically knocks Belle to the ground at least twice, swipes at her repeatedly with his claws bared, and - in an act that drives her from the castle - grabs at her and tears her shirtsleeve.

All of this unfortunately takes its toll on the storytelling. Belle and the Beast's budding relationship suffers the most, especially given the hostility of the Beast's earlier interactions with Belle. Their friendship and romance never have the time needed to unfold naturally on stage. "Something There" - which should reflect the passage of time as the two get to know one another - and the ballroom scene featuring the show's title song instead appear to take place in the span of a single day.

Some of the story's other famous scenes also fall short in this staging. Belle and the Beast's dance happens on an almost bare stage, lacking the gilded grandeur associated with that iconic moment. The finale's confrontation between Gaston and the Beast is half hidden behind a projection screen, and while this allows for a visualization of the scene's rainstorm, the actors' movements are very difficult to see. The Beast's transition from monster to man - which has delighted and amazed audiences in past productions - here occurs under a large blue sheet and goes through a series of stage blackouts, dampening the "magical" qualities.

"Be Our Guest," the grand banquet with high-kicking silverware and dancing table settings, has two major problems. First, this musical number is one of the few places where costume design failed in the production, particularly in the "family-friendly" department. The ladies of the company step out in high-cut bodysuits, frilly garter belts, and questionably-placed, heart-shaped spangles in prominent view. Secondly, the stage is too bare for most of the song. Small groups enter and dance about in turn, but the ensemble only comes together at the very end of the song for an all-too-brief kick line. The number relies more on the use of sparklers and streamers to sell the spectacle.

The second act did pick up with a very well-staged rendition of "Human Again," including some of best choreography of the evening during the Enchanted Objects' waltz. The harmonies and visuals of the grand finale were also beautifully done.

NETworks' production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast plays the Providence Performing Arts Center through Sunday, June 2, 2013. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ppacri.org, by phone (401) 421-ARTS (2787), or by visiting the box office at 220 Weybosset Street, Providence, RI. Ticket prices range from $41-$68 and discounted rates are available for groups of 20 or more.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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