Weekend Culture Recap: Beauty and the Beast
Due to some time conflicts of my sister's, Patoot and I ended up with last-minute tickets to see Disney's musical "Beauty and the Beast" in Boston this Saturday. Not only was it nice of my sister and mom to give up their tickets, but it was also a great opportunity to get some one-on-one time with the girl. The build-up to and subsequent arrival of the Munchkin's birthday was making poor Patoot feel mighty left-out -- to the point where I actually overheard her playing with her dolls in her room alone, saying: "...I know, it IS sad when your parents like your baby brother better."
Oops.
Needless to say, she was overjoyed at the prospect of a Mommy-Daughter day. Even better: her Nana contributed some souvenir money to the cause so Patoot could get a memento of the event. This being Disney, said mementos consisted of: dolls, tiaras, silk "magic" roses, Beast stuffed animals, bedazzled T shirts, you name it. She opted for a little red plastic purse in the shape of a rose. I felt she made a sound decision.
Now onto the show itself. I'm gonna give it a VERY mixed review. First the positive: All of the ensemble songs were awesome. The show had a great group of singers/dancers, and it showed.
HOWEVER. In an attempt to bulk-up the original movie (much like my beef with the Mary Poppins musical), the show added some verrrrrrrrrry draggy scenes and songs.
Case in point: When your princess-loving, almost 6 year old daughter says things like...
"When is this part going to be OVER?"
"*deep sigh* This is NOT like the movie at all, is it, Mommy?"
"I'm just going to take a nap."
...you know you've lost your core audience. But it wasn't just Patoot nodding off -- I was bored in parts too. I found myself grinding my teeth at some pointless "contemplative" moment, wondering: "Can we just get to Be Our Guest already?" (That was the best number, btw.)
I also had a MAJOR bone to pick with the actor playing The Beast. The Beast is one of my favorite Disney princes because he is so FLAWED. He's gruff and has a bad temper and no people skills, which make his transformation throughout the story truly touching. He also has little to no sense of humor; when he's funny in the movie, it's subtle and clearly by accident. THIS actor, however, played the most inconsistent rendition of The Beast I've ever seen (and I have seen the show on Broadway once or twice). He would be over-the-top gruff to the point he was TOO violent and scary -- then would inexplicably switch tones and start hamming it up to get cheap laughs. He legit said "Ohhhhhhhh reeeeeeeeeeeally?" in a high-pitched, effeminate voice at one point. That, by the way, was where he officially lost me.
And his singing voice wasn't even good enough to make up for it. Thumbs. Down.
My favorite actor by far was the guy who played Gaston. He NAILED it. I suppose actors, when taking on such a well-known part, feel tempted to make it "their own," but there is something to be said for delivering a strong portrayal of a classic character. He was funny, evil, had a kickass singing voice and OMG he was buff. No wonder the townie girls were swooning.
Yeah, ok. He's a horrible human being. But check out those GUNS.
Anyway. All nitpicking aside, it was still a fun afternoon out for Patoot and me. And as I said before, the ensemble songs were FANTASTIC. This was probably due in large part to the fact they revolved around the two best actors (Gaston and Lumiere, who was a hoot), but I digress.
And not only did we have a nice Girl's Day, but this outstanding exchange took place after the show, as we were walking down Washington Street toward my mom's car (she picked us up):
ME: Nooooo oooooone hits like Gaston, matches wits like Gaston...
PATOOT: Mommmm. Stop.
ME: ...in a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston!
PATOOT: Mom! Stop singing!
ME: Why, am I embarrassing you?
PATOOT: YES.
ME: Good. (sings again, louder) I'm especially good at ex-PEC-tor-ating!...
PATOOT: *sighs*
I mean, if you can't embarrass your kids, what fun is parenting anyway?
Oops.
Needless to say, she was overjoyed at the prospect of a Mommy-Daughter day. Even better: her Nana contributed some souvenir money to the cause so Patoot could get a memento of the event. This being Disney, said mementos consisted of: dolls, tiaras, silk "magic" roses, Beast stuffed animals, bedazzled T shirts, you name it. She opted for a little red plastic purse in the shape of a rose. I felt she made a sound decision.
Now onto the show itself. I'm gonna give it a VERY mixed review. First the positive: All of the ensemble songs were awesome. The show had a great group of singers/dancers, and it showed.
HOWEVER. In an attempt to bulk-up the original movie (much like my beef with the Mary Poppins musical), the show added some verrrrrrrrrry draggy scenes and songs.
Case in point: When your princess-loving, almost 6 year old daughter says things like...
"When is this part going to be OVER?"
"*deep sigh* This is NOT like the movie at all, is it, Mommy?"
"I'm just going to take a nap."
...you know you've lost your core audience. But it wasn't just Patoot nodding off -- I was bored in parts too. I found myself grinding my teeth at some pointless "contemplative" moment, wondering: "Can we just get to Be Our Guest already?" (That was the best number, btw.)
I also had a MAJOR bone to pick with the actor playing The Beast. The Beast is one of my favorite Disney princes because he is so FLAWED. He's gruff and has a bad temper and no people skills, which make his transformation throughout the story truly touching. He also has little to no sense of humor; when he's funny in the movie, it's subtle and clearly by accident. THIS actor, however, played the most inconsistent rendition of The Beast I've ever seen (and I have seen the show on Broadway once or twice). He would be over-the-top gruff to the point he was TOO violent and scary -- then would inexplicably switch tones and start hamming it up to get cheap laughs. He legit said "Ohhhhhhhh reeeeeeeeeeeally?" in a high-pitched, effeminate voice at one point. That, by the way, was where he officially lost me.
And his singing voice wasn't even good enough to make up for it. Thumbs. Down.
My favorite actor by far was the guy who played Gaston. He NAILED it. I suppose actors, when taking on such a well-known part, feel tempted to make it "their own," but there is something to be said for delivering a strong portrayal of a classic character. He was funny, evil, had a kickass singing voice and OMG he was buff. No wonder the townie girls were swooning.
Yeah, ok. He's a horrible human being. But check out those GUNS.
Anyway. All nitpicking aside, it was still a fun afternoon out for Patoot and me. And as I said before, the ensemble songs were FANTASTIC. This was probably due in large part to the fact they revolved around the two best actors (Gaston and Lumiere, who was a hoot), but I digress.
And not only did we have a nice Girl's Day, but this outstanding exchange took place after the show, as we were walking down Washington Street toward my mom's car (she picked us up):
ME: Nooooo oooooone hits like Gaston, matches wits like Gaston...
PATOOT: Mommmm. Stop.
ME: ...in a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston!
PATOOT: Mom! Stop singing!
ME: Why, am I embarrassing you?
PATOOT: YES.
ME: Good. (sings again, louder) I'm especially good at ex-PEC-tor-ating!...
PATOOT: *sighs*
I mean, if you can't embarrass your kids, what fun is parenting anyway?