“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” reviewed by Al Bresloff and Tommaso Casati

***** “Beauty and the Beast” is a story as old as time, and we are quite familiar with the animated version that Disney brought out many years ago. Then it was refit for the Broadway stage and the music of Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman along with Tim Rice became “live and on stage”. The story is one that younger children can enjoy despite a few scary moments, and the version that I saw being presented at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, has been cut to 75 minutes, allowing for even a 5 year old to get into the powerful story of love and redemption. When I do kids plays, now that my grandkids are in their teens ( and above), I have a team of kids that help me get the word out. I have always felt that my readers ( and radio listeners) would want to hear what a younger child feels so that they can make a truly “informed decision”. For “Beauty and the Beast” I was joined by 5-year-old Tommaso Casati. Tomaso has been a “partner” before and once again, proved to be an asset today.

Just in case, you are unaware of the story of “Beauty and the Beast” ( book by Linda Wolverton) it is a story about a young prince, who gets trapped into an evil beast and cannot be transformed back to his normal life until he learns to love and be loved. In fact, his entire household has been transformed from people to “things” as well, and they will also stay that way should the Prince not find himself loved and in love. There is a rose that we watch and as the petals fall, the Prince’s time disappears.

The Shakespeare Theater is a thrust stage so the audience is on three sides, and the actors use the aisles for entrances and exits. Director/choreographer Amber Mak has truly put this show together in a manner that keeps the young audience ( and perhaps a few of the older ones as well) into the story. Her cast is small in numbers but huge in talent. The leading lady, Belle is played by Audrey Hare. She is considered “unusual” by her town residents because she is a romantic and loves to read books. Her father, Maurice ( played to perfection by Michael Kingston, who keeps showing how talented he is) is an inventor and a little quirky.

Maurice finds himself held captive at the castle of the Beast, and in order to get him released, Belle trades places with him. The Beast ( deftly handled by Jason Michael Evans) does find himself attracted to Belle and after a lot of incidents and circumstances, this being a true “fairy tale” you know, they will end up together. As Princess Winnie the Woebegone says in “Once Upon a Mattress”, “They all live happily ever after”.

The castle staff that has become other than human and will be transformed back is a powerhouse in itself. Lumiere (Christopher Kale Jones), Mrs. Potts ( Rebecca Prescott, who does a lovely version of “Beauty an dthe Beast”), Cogsworth ( the always reliable James Earl Jones II), Madame de la Grande Bouche (Harriet Nzinga Plumpp), Chip ( Evie Hsu is adorable and alternate performances are done by Layla Joan), and Babette (Maya Rowe). These performers also change costumes and personalities to become townspeople and others.

The comedy is handled by Gaston ( a wonderful performance by David Sajewich) who is quite the singer, dancer and powerhouse in bringing this giant egomaniac to life. David truly steals the scenes he is in. His aid/right hand man is  Le Fou (Sam Linda is hysterical) and the ensemble of performers who play townsfolk, plates, knives and forks ( the “Be Our Guest” number is both simple and glorious) are played by Maggie Malaney, Emily Ann Brooks, and Maxwell McCloud Schinger, Aalon Smith. As I previously said, this cast changes costumes and personalities often and with great skill. The production numbers like “Gaston” with a line dance, cup-clanging that will have you in awe and “Be Our Guest” are more than one might anticipate in a mini version, yet Mak managed to make them shine brightly.

The orchestra under the leadership of Charlotte Rivard-Hoster is again, small in numbers but huge in talent and Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s set, Theresa Ham’s costumes and the amazing projection design my Mike Tutaj truly work to paint this picture. The sound (Sarah Ramos) and lighting (Jason Lynch) completed the picture.

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” will continue at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier thru August 20th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  11  a.m.

Thursdays  11 am and  2 p.m.

Fridays  11 am and  2 p.m.

Saturdays  11 am  and 2 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m.

Tickets are $26 ( 12 and under)  $42 for older children and adults  Box office 312-595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

Audio description with touch tour August 5th  11 am

ASL-Duo-Interpretation  August 12th  11 a.m.

Navy Pier garage has discounted parking- bring your ticket to the theater for validation.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”.

Tommaso’s thoughts:

What an exciting experience!

My favorite character was “The Beast”. I felt that he was exactly like the character in the movie!

All of the music and dancing was so fun, it made me want to sing along! I laughed so hard, it was so funny! They added a lot of humor.

The costumes were well thought out. My mom loved it!

Overall it was so great, I would go back and see it again.

I alos like the special candy that Mr. B gives out at openings-yum!