Blockbuster Beauty

Beauty and The Beast The Musical (Disney Theatrical Group)

QPAC, Lyric Theatre

February 15 – April 21

The Disney stage musical “Beauty and the Beast The Musical” (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton) is a classic; the original Broadway production, adapted from Walt Disney Pictures’ Academy Award-winning 1991 animated feature musical film of the same name, ran for over 13 years on Broadway, and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. 30 years after its last Australian tour (which didn’t include Brisbane) the much-anticipated reimagined production of the blockbuster musical is set to make up for lost time, catapulting the charming ‘tale as old as time’ comfortably into a 2024 telling through enthralling production values and considered characterisation.

By its very nature, the musical is slow to start with lots of narrative threads to be woven together in its recount of the beloved fairytale story of beautiful Belle (Shubshri Kandiah) a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast (Brendan Xavier), who is really a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantres, in particular how the Beast must learn to love and be loved to end the curse that magically transformed him and his servants. Indeed, it is hallway into Act One before the first big number, ‘Gaston’. Once its spectacle arrives, however, it makes everything worthwhile. Then there is the energetic colour and movement of ‘Be Our Guest’, which, is an energetic tap dance and Can-can kaleidoscope (#literally) of Buzby Berkeley style geometric extravagance and dazzle dazzle in-unison lighting (lighting design by Natasha Katz). This impressive realisation of director Matt West’s choreography is literally a showstopping moment, well-deserving of its mid-show standing ovation, akin to Aladdin’s ‘Friend Like Me’.

Experience of the musical is an epic feast for the senses. Production values are top-notch, especially in relation to scenic technology and design, which is above and beyond those of standard musical fare, as impeccably timed special effects and laser projections service swift scene transitions and costume changes, and lightning carries out into the stalls as Belle escapes into the stormy woods from her imprisonment in the Beast’s castle. Costumes (costume design by Ann Hould-Ward) contribute to the spectacle through, for example, Belle’s gorgeous golden gown and Xavier sparkles in the Beast’s embroidered royal-blue-suited transformation into a gentleman for dinner and a personal ball with Belle.

Stanley A. Meyer’s scenic design sees some sparsely staged scenes serve as juxtaposition to later opulent castle moments, with detailed backdrops adding depth to the Beast’s hermitage. And John Shiever’s dynamic sound design works with Darrel Maloney’s projection/video design to darken Belle’s eccentric inventor father Maurice’s (Rodney Dobson) journey into the wolf-filled woods on way to an invention fair, which leads to his imprisonment by the Beast for trespassing. Quick set transitions also keep things moving, such as from the introduction of ‘Gaston’ into its eventual rollicking all-in tavern, tin-cup clinking, precisely-choreographed ensemble number.  

Attention to detail is evident throughout the production. From its opening ensemble number ‘Belle’, during which Belle expresses her wish to live in a world like her books, while on way to get another from the local bookseller, we notice not only the protagonist’s lack of traditional apron within her costume, but are spoiled for choice as to where to look as a washerwoman, baker, shopkeeper and alike townspeople peddle their assorted wares. And, as the show progresses, thanks to Jim Steinmeyer’s illusion design, there are many magical reveals and ‘how are they doing that’ moments, around, for example, the appearance of adorable teacup Chip and the Beast’s Act Two transformation.

There is a meticulous approach evident within performances too, such as in Hayley Martin’s always-wiggles as French maid turned into a feather duster, Babette. Rohan Browne as maître d’, now camp candelabra Lumiere and Gareth Jacobs as pompous head of the household, but now clock, Cogsworth, meanwhile, provide much pantomimic comic relief, akin to The Lion King’s duo of Timon and Pumbaa. And thanks to the chemistry between the leads, the audience is invested in the love story between Belle and the Beast from its outset.

Brisbane Conservatorium of Music graduate Kandiah is very much a Disney princess, of strong and beautiful voice, but also self-assured, determined and compassionate in her eventual quest not just to help the Beast, but have him want to help himself, meaning that we warm to her immediately. Xavier’s petulance more than menace makes it easy for the audience the appreciate the vulnerability beneath his character’s veneer and his vocal prowess is especially evident in his impressive note-hold in ‘If I Can’t Love Her’ realisation that he will be a monster forever if he cannot learn to love Belle. And Brisbane’s Jackson Head is an obvious but worthy crowd favourite as the comically conceited, chauvinistic and arrogant antagonist Gaston, in marriage pursuit of Belle, as the most beautiful girl in the village.

Under Musical Director and conductor Luke Hunter’s helm, the original score soars along the new dance arrangements and choreography. Not only this, but the score is executed to perfection to enable the story’s different moods, cresendoing Belle’s sing of wanting her own adventure like those in the books she reads (notably with glasses on), darking those scenes in the woods and adding poignancy to ‘Human Again’, in which, with lovely harmonies, the Beast’s servants express their hope to one-day return to their usual selves.

With visual gags aplenty for younger audience members sitting alongside adult-tailored dialogue observations about the nature of relationships, this “Beauty and the Beast” provides something for everyone in its audience, beyond just its feel-good messaging around true beauty lying within. The sumptuous production values ensure that this comes along with non-stop entertainment through elevation of the magic of theatre, making it well worth a visit for both young and young-at-heart audience members alike.

Photos c/o – Daniel Boud

Beast’s beauty abridged

Beauty and the Beast Junior (Rivermount College)

Rivermount College, Colin Young Community Centre

July 14 – 16

Rivermount College’s production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast Junior” is a reminder of all the colour, movement and energy that make Disney musicals so enchanting. So taut is its direction under Allison Fair, however, that it is difficult to remember how the junior edition of the popular musical has been abridged, even having experienced the complete version many times.

Good use is made of the Colin Young Community Centre stage, in the tale’s tell of transformation and tolerance, especially in terms of the big ensemble numbers, though things begin quietly as, in prologue upon the stage’s apron the kind and curious Belle (Annabelle Ross) tells of her yearning for more, (‘Belle’) in introduction of the sameness of each day’s life in her small-minded provincial town. Staging is appropriately simple but versatile, with the glass-encased enchanted rose mystical flower (that has since become the original 1991 animated movie and subsequent 1994 musical’s symbol) featuring front of stage throughout.

Ten years prior to the story’s start, the single rose was offered by an enchantresses seeking shelter in a young, spoiled prince’s castle. Rejected due to her appearance, she suggested that true beauty lies within, before turning the prince into the hideous beast of the musical’s title, with warning that the only way to break the spell is to learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal falls. That another is of course Belle.

What brings the titular characters together is the disappearance of Belle’s inventor-father, Maurice (Hayden Stork). This, and Belle’s brave of the wolf-filled woods in order to save him, also allows for some of the show’s richness, with green lighting (lighting design by Darryn Swaby and Daniel Wright) menacing character journeys, whether they be on way to, or in Belle’s subsequent escape from imprisonment at the Beast’s (Riku Silling) castle of cursed occupants.

Lead roles are all well-cast and performers do well to maintain their composure through many unfortunate microphone issues and missed sound cues. Ross is poised as the beautiful Belle, spirited with imagination but also determined to live in a world full of adventure. And her vocals are of a beauty befitting the show’s many gorgeous musical numbers (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice). This is especially evident in the lovely ‘Something There’, in which, having been rescued by him while attempting to flee from her castle captivity, Belle notes a change in the Beast’s personality, as also observed by the hopeful-of-being-human-again servants. Indeed, her tender touch evokes her sections of the song with an empathy towards his essential loneliness that accentuates it as the story’s turning point.

Silling matches this by giving the Beast an increasing softness as he tries to become a gentleman, no easy feat for a character so initially savage in his determination to punish his trespassers and unable to control his temper. It is Asher Emery, however, who truly shines as the village’s handsome but egotistical jerk Gaston, determined to marry Belle no matter what it takes.With Linda Woolverton’s book featuring puns aplenty and occasional dialogue directly to the audience, there is a real pantomime feel to this show, thanks in part of Emery’s stage presence, which immediately endears him to the audience. His strong vocals suit his character’s matinee-idol assuredness and his timing within dialogue delivery uses pace, pause, emphasis and trail aways to add much to characterisation, with younger audience members especially loving his lead of the servants and villagers’ attempted castle take-over. Along with bumbling sidekick LeFou (a confident Maya Barclay Ford), he gives us some of the show’s early comic highlights.

Later memorable moments come from the Beast’s servants in suffrage as animated objects. As the suave and debonair castle maître d’ (now candlestick) Lumiere, Sienna Barney maintains accent throughout, even in lead of the ensemble cabaret number ‘Be Our Guest’, working well in balance alongside the fusspot energy of Summer Palanca as the dignified household head (and now pendulum clock) Cogsworth. And Myshah Ali is a standout as the nurturing Mrs Potts, former head of the kitchen and now teapot. Her tottering, ‘pish posh’ dismissals and ‘my dear reassurances’ are accompanied by a committed physicality that draws attention to her ever appearance on stage (#inagoodway).

When it took to Broadway in 1994, “Beauty and the Beast” was a spectacle the likes of which had never before been seen on stage and even in its Junior version, it is easy to appreciate how, since then, it has played more performances than the four longest-running Broadway shows combined. “Beauty and the Beast Junior” is delightful entertainment for audience members of all ages especially in its magical enlivenment of everyday times. Costumes (designed and supplied by the All Saints Anglican School production of “Beauty and the Beast”) are wonderful, beyond just the iconic golden gown and blue coat of its protagonists.

Melissa Koch’s choreography (additional choreography by Gayle Lock) is similarly effective. While ‘Be Our Guest’, where the servants offer Belle dinner (and a show) despite their master’s orders, is a highlight big ensemble number, as always, with dancing utensils and even a cheese grater, it is ‘Gaston’ that shines the brightest. The song, in which LeFou and the village’s tavern patrons attempt to cheer up a sulking Gaston, who is miserable at the loss of a bride, is simple but perfectly synced in its choreography of intertwined beer steins and table thumping. It is clearly a joyous experience for all and also a fitting summary of the spirit of this outstanding reminder of the bold characters, unforgettable music and charming humour that has made the musical a long-time audience favourite.  

Disney delights

Beauty and the Beast (Phoenix Ensemble)

Pavilion Theatre

May 3 – 25

Despite them being problematic from the perspective of modern political correctness, there is a huge affection from Disney musicals. This is evident not only in Phoenix Ensemble’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” enjoying a sold-out season, but from the start of show applause from the all-age audience members packed into the Pavilion Theatre’s new seating bank. The stage is bursting sometimes too with the show’s big ensemble numbers occupying all of the its space, even spilling into the stalls. But it all begins, after a quick opening flashback, with just the one… the Beauty of the title, Belle (Mannao Madar) showcasing share in song of her wish to live in a world full of adventure, like in her books.

When her inventor-father, Maurice (Tony Paull) goes missing, Belle braves the woods in order to save him. When she discovers that her father is being held prisoner, she runs to his aid and confronts the captor Beast (Michael Mills), eventually courageously agreeing to trade places and become his prisoner instead. Those familiar with the Walt Disney Pictures’ Academy Award-winning 1991 animated musical film of the same name, from which it was adapted, know the story behind how the Beast came to be; he was once a spoiled prince, but has been placed under a spell. The occupants of his castle are also cursed and so now must suffer life as animated objects. So, the candlestick, Lumiere (a standout Jason Ianna) and stuffy mantle clock Cogswoth (David Morris) unite with others to bring the sweet but strongminded Belle and belligerent Beast together to break everyone’s curse.

With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (Book by Linda Woolverton), the show features many gorgeous musical numbers, despite some occasional varying vocal levels. Madar is always poised as the vibrant and spirited Belle with a spectacularly strong voice that meets every challenge. As the Beast, Mills showcases some soaring vocals also, especially in his ‘If I Can’t Love Her’ lament about being set to stay a monster forever if he cannot open his heart. And as the Beast becomes more humanised early in Act Two, he adds some nice touches of humour.

Particularly the male members of the ensemble work together to produce some stirring harmonies, evident in vibrant production numbers like ‘Be Our Guest’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Gaston’, the latter led by Elliot Gough as Le Fou. The song about the conceited cardboard character who vies for Belle for all the wrong reasons is an early highlight in its introduction to Josh Nixon’s appropriately over-the-top performance, all swaggersome stance and malpropismed dialogue, by character dimwittedness more than design.

As the suave and debonair castle maître d’, Ianna not only maintains accent throughout, even in lead of ‘Be Our Guest’ as requisite almost-intermission after a long Act One big ensemble cabaret number, but his interaction with flirty former maid, now French feather duster Babette (Jaclyn Johnson) is an added treat. And his measured approach strikes a nice balance to the tightly-wound Cogsworth (#punintended) whose fusspot energy is almost too pantomime.

With puns aplenty and occasional dialogue directly to the audience, there is a real pantomime feel to this show and the playful antics of the animated knickknack and whatnot household objects just wanting to be ‘Human Again’ are a real delight to younger audience members. Scenic design works well to capture the story’s otherworldly elements with seamless scene and prop changes. And though there is limited stage space, the dance numbers are not diminished. Indeed, Amy-Rose Swindells’ choreography sees realisation of some wonderful acrobatic fight scenes. Costumes are all abundantly detailed, with performers coping well with the cumbersome get-ups of the household objects, especially young Chip (Sam Johnson) who can only rely on facial expressions, all of which are fabulously responsive, to determine his scene involvement.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a big and bold experience, full of colour, energy and movement, which makes it easy for its audience members to be captured by the magic of imagination and theatre in unite. When it took to Broadway in 1994, it was a spectacle the likes of which hadn’t ever before been seen on stage and in Phoenix Ensemble’s hands it is easy to appreciate how, since then, it has played more performances than the four longest-running Broadway shows combined. With bold, fantastic characters, beautiful music and just the right touch of charming humour, it remains beloved for a reason as delightful entertainment for audience members of all ages.