Review Roundup: Susan Egan Returns to BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at 5-Star Theatricals

Susan Egan is reprising her Broadway performance of Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at 5-Star Theatricals in California! What did the critics have to say on her performance?

Susan Egan has made powerful impressions in theatre, film, television and music. She headlined on Broadway as Thoroughly Modern Millie, won critical acclaim as "Sally Bowles" in Cabaret, starred in Triumph of Love and State Fair, and received Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations for "Best Actress" as the original "Belle" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Regionally, Egan starred alongside Carol Burnett in Putting It Together and Tommy Tune in the national tour of Bye, Bye Birdie, and developed works at Yale Repertory, Baltimore Center Stage, South Coast Repertory, and the Mark Taper Forum.

Her film credits include "13 Going on 30," "Gotta Kick It Up" for the Disney Channel, and many award-winning indies seen at Seattle Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Slamdance, the HBO Comedy Festival and beyond. Susan has voiced leading characters in the animated features "Hercules" (Meg), "Spirited Away" (Lin), "Porco Rosso" (Gina), "Lady and the Tramp II" (Angel), "Achmed Saves America" (Ginny), and is currently on Cartoon Network's Steven Universe (Rose Quartz). On television, she spent two seasons on the WB's Nikki, and guest-starred on "House," "Numb3rs," "NYPD Blue," "Arli$$," "Drew Carey,"" Great Performances," and countless others.

Susan has headlined with more than 50 symphony orchestras worldwide, including concerts at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl, and has over 40 recording credits including her solo CDs: "All That and More," "So Far," "Winter Tracks," "CoffeeHouse" (Best Vocalist 2004), "Susan Egan LIVE," "The Secret of Happiness," and 2015's "Softly." She is an accomplished master teacher in music performance, obsessive gardener, happy wife, and leader to her daughters' two Girl Scout troops.

Step into the enchanted world of Broadway's modern classic, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, an international sensation that has played to over 35 million people worldwide in 13 countries. Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature, the stage version includes all of the wonderful songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with new songs by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice. The original Broadway production ran for over thirteen years and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The classic story tells of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed into his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

This "tale as old as time" is filled with spectacular costume and set opportunities or, even more simply staged, Disney's Beauty and the Beast offers a great opportunity to bring your entire community together for family theatre at its best.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST runs through Sunday, July 29, 2018 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. For tickets and more visit 5startheatricals.com.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Don Grigware, BroadwayWorld: Director Yvette Lawrence and choreographer Cheryl Baxter. keep the action flowing from moment to moment throughout and are supported by an exceptionally adept cast. Egan's oddly spirited Belle 25 years later is still perfection, as she portrays the self-educated provincial girl who understands what it means to be different. Shunned by others because of her solitary preoccupation with books, she is more wise and caring than most girls her age. Egan is so real and possessing such a lovely singing voice that she wins our hearts the moment she steps onstage. Jason Chacon as the Beast is equally blessed with a wonderful vocal range and carries out the strenuous physicality of the role with tremendous fortitude. His transition from monster to gentleman is quite remarkable. Equally physical and vocally adept is Adam Hollick as Gaston, the comically cartoonish bully who proves the real beast of the evening. Hollick''s sense of egomania is delicious to watch as he flexes his biceps to the max.

Imaan Jalali, LA Excites: Overall, 5-Star Theatricals' highly professional production of "Beauty and the Beast" far exceeds expectations, led by Susan Egan, who, to use a boxing analogy, exultantly reclaims her role as Belle on stage just as George Foreman reclaimed the World Heavyweight Championship the same year (1994) Egan made her debut in this indelible epic. Egan's performance is a triumph of the human spirit, as is the collective unity of her cast mates, who have undoubtedly researched their characters extensively, and put in the work, to deliver a sensational show that overcomes its predictable plot to be just as emotionally resonant as if it were being experienced for the very first time.

Jim Allen, Stage and Cinema: It is a testament to great storytelling that the stage version remains emotionally resonant - storytelling that is courtesy of the book by Linda Woolverton, and ideas by the late, great lyricist Howard Ashman. Alan Menken's music remains thrilling, and there are new numbers incorporated into this score with lyrics by Tim Rice. Beauty and the Beast reminds us to keep the art of storytelling alive; it manages to teach us powerful morals, all the while tugging at our heartstrings.

Karen Salkin, It's Not About Me: This is an excellent production, with every cast member contributing to the overall enjoyment. The singing and dancing is spot-on, and the humor, especially where Adam Hollick as Gaston is concerned, puts it all over the top. The Audience (i) saw it with reacted with glee to every nuance. And the performance of Jason Chacon, as the Beast, grew on me (as the character does on Belle,) because I loved his voice.

Steve Stanley, Stage Scene LA: Under Lawrence's inspired direction (I love that we get to see Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and the rest of the castle staff in pre-transformation human form in the show's prologue), Egan is not the only performer to light up the Kavli stage. In his most major role to date, rising SoCal star Jason Chacon matches Egan's Belle every step of the way, investing Beast with a gentle heart, childlike wonder, oceans of pain, and a Broadway-caliber baritone that makes "If I Can't Have Her" every bit the equal of Egan's "Is This Home?" and "A Change In Me."

Rita Moran, VC Star: Director Yvette Lawrence guides the "Beauty and the Beast" ensemble of more than 60 players, from the very young to those in the prime of their acting lives, as the troupe delivers the famous fairy tale as brought to contemporary stages with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and book by Linda Woolverton.

To post a comment, you must register and login.