Disney has taken over plenty in the entertainment world, so it shouldn't have been a surprise when they moved onto Broadway with adaptations of their animated musicals. Beauty and the Beast is an uneven experience, full of bright lights and spectacle, but not much meat for me to chew on. The story is familiar: young woman meets a savage man-beast, is first frightened by him and then learns to love him. The Disney version gave life to inanimate objects, all of which are featured in the stage play. It feels like two shows in one; there's the original Disney material, and there are the additional songs written for the musical. The two halves don't always work well together. The stage material has a darker, more adult edge to it, but this is overwhelmed by the sheer schmaltz of the production.
What did I like? There was the vain villain's signature tune, "Gaston," complete with clinking beer steins. There was the epic "Be Our Guest," complete with a hot pink backdrop and a dancing cheese grater. The singing was generally solid, and Grant Norman was excellent as the as the Beast. On the downside, there were the cute touches that make often make Disney products tough to swallow. Matters weren't helped by Suan Owen, who played Belle kind of like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz."
