Beauty and the Beast

I just got back from seeing an amateur performance at a nearby theater. Overall, I'd say it was...fair.

First, I just need to say this: THEY CUT THE BEST LINE IN THE SHOW! "Oh, that is despicable...I love it!" It's such a great line, and there was no reason whatsoever to cut it!

Gaston blew me away. His acting was fine enough, he had the Gaston look and build, and the voice...WOW. I would kill to have a voice like that! Unfortunately, his tether fell off at the end, so instead of falling off the castle he had to scream and duck through the curtain. How embarassing that must have been!

Lefou, Mrs. Potts, and Cogsworth were all quite good. I was a tad disappointed with Lumiere. His performance was perfectly good, but I've been in a couple plays with the guy and I expected a bit more.

Why did they change the last refrain in the "Gaston song?" There was no reason to.

Choreography...ugh. Flipping your hands back and forth during "Be Our Guest" just doesn't cut it. If that's all you've got it'll look better if you just stand still. None of the choreography was particularly enthralling, although to be fair there wasn't much room on the stage.

Overall the singing impressed me more than the acting. He's not the biggest character, but I found Maurice to be exceptionally bland in his delivery.

Nice little illusion to make Chip (Chipsy in this performance, as a girl played the part) look like just a teacup. Angled mirror with box, I believe.

I think a lot of the low points could be put down to poor directing. Can't blame the actors too mch, as I think most of them were inexperienced.