Almost a year into its fifth National Tour, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Musical is making an eight-performance stop in Knoxville as part of Broadway at the Tennessee Theatre. Based on the 1991 animated film and the 1994 stage musical, this production is everything one expects from Disney—an attractive and accomplished cast, honed and tight staging, colorful scenery and lavish-looking costumes, and awe-provoking technical effects. Truly, this is a theatrical niche that Disney has perfected.
More than likely, the storyline is familiar. A handsome but self-absorbed prince is cursed for his lack of humanity by an enchantress. He is transformed into a beast and must remained so until he learns to love and is loved in return. Belle, an avid reader, and her father, an eccentric inventor, live in country village, both of them restless and unhappy for different reasons. After Belle’s father is lost in the forest, he accidentally becomes a prisoner of the Beast. Belle goes looking for him, finding him in the Beast’s castle, where she trades her freedom to free her father. The Beast’s servants, similarly transformed into household furnishings, work to remove the spell, convince the pair of their love, and return to full human form.
The show owes its musical life to composer Alan Menkin and lyricist Howard Ashman who brought a heartbeat to the book by Linda Woolverton. Music numbers added later had lyrics by Tim Rice. The story injects cautionary advice on dealing with bullies, accepting one’s mistakes and moving on, and how not to judge a book by its cover.
Directed and choreographed by Matt West, the tour’s strong cast has been with the show since this tour began last July. The focal point of the story, of course, is Belle (Kyra Belle Johnson) and Beast (Fergie L. Phillipe). Johnson is every inch a Disney heroine—one that possesses admirable assets and the strength to use them. Every heroine needs an antagonist and Belle gets one in the pompous and conceited Gaston (Stephen Mark Lukas). Admittedly, one looks for “that” moment between Belle and the Beast in which one can categorically state that love has arrived. With eyes clouded with special effects or even a misty emotion, one may not notice the absence.
There are some terrific production numbers for cast and ensemble, notably “Gaston,” the all-too familiar “Be Our Guest,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The Act I closer, “If I Can’t Love Her,” was poignant in its yearning. Belle’s “A Change in Me” was heartbreakingly beautiful.
Harry Francis was marvelous as Gaston’s obsequious toady, Lefou. Kevin Ligon brought some character gravity and strength to Maurice, Belle’s father. The enchanted servants did a solid job of comic underpinning the romantic story: Cogsworth (Javier Ignacio), Lumiere (Danny Gardner), Mrs. Potts (Kathy Voytko), Babette (Cameron Monroe Thomas), and Madame de la Grande Bouche (Holly Ann Butler).
As suggested above, this is a production of delicious eye candy. West’s creative team of designers know exactly how to augment the story with a colorful kinetic environment. Scenic Designer Stanley A. Meyer, lighting designer Natasha Katz, and video projections by Darrel Maloney keep the narrative moving from village, to forest, to castle. Ann Hould-Ward’s costumes (costumes) add to this visual narrative and character delineation. But perhaps the most fun visual effect is an overhead camera capturing a Busby Berkeley-esque kaleidoscopic dance sequence.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Musical runs for eight performances, May 20 through Sunday, May 24, at the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street.
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