Beauty And The Beast

My granddaughter and I went out to dinner tonight and then we went to see Beauty and the Beast at our local community players.

It was not the same quality that I remember from thirty years ago. There was no orchestra or band and the costumes were pretty costume-y, but it was still a wonderful night. Partly because I was with Tiffany and partly because of the audience. There was a huge mix of children and people of every imaginable sort there.

When the wolves came rushing down from the back of the theater one little girl was completely undone. Her screams, not wails, pierced the entire room and her father spent the rest of the first act carrying her in and out, in and out, in and out . . .  A young man in the back kept yelling "whoo hoo!" whenever he was particularly moved and there was a lot of clapping and sighing throughout.

The cast was huge and included people of every age too. Now they have wireless microphones, which is both good and bad. I could hear everything and some of the voices were a bit strident, but the Beast had a voice as good as I've ever heard. He melted my heart and his sustained notes were beyond perfect. The dancing was cute, but I had a sense that there was a metronome hidden in the back of the costumes connected to mechanical movements. Yet anytime you get that many nonprofessionals doing such fancy leg work, it is quite an accomplishment. It was fun to watch and even stirring at times.

Lefu stood out above and beyond all the rest. His face was so expressive, his eyes so mischievious, his voice was so rich and his footwork so light and amazing I couldn't believe he was here on this stage.

In spite of all the distractions it was a wonderful play. We enjoyed ourselves to the fullest and I will always wonder how they got the last petal to fall off that rose at exactly the right time!