Every warm to vibrant hue in last weekend’s Easter basket suggests the palette of nuanced performance, as well as colorful costume and scenery, in director and choreographer Matt West’s enchanting production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” The fairy tale has come a long way since its 1740 debut as an adult fable focusing on power, politics, and magical ancestry meant to be discussed in the literary salons of the day.
Disney captured the magic in its landmark animated musical, the first cartoon ever to be nominated for Best Picture in 1991. And thanks to its VHS format, the cassette played and replayed over and over again in family households so that – many middle-agers today can still sing along to its original soundtrack without a hitch.
Those grown – up kids, along with their parents, will find the prologue of the story at the Bushnell as comforting as the blankets they curled up in watching and rewatching “Beauty and the Beast” in their family rooms. For it is the voice of deceased actress Angela Lansberry (Mrs. Potts in the movie) who introduces the “tale as old as time” – that of the spoiled selfish prince who refused shelter to an old beggar woman (an enchantress in disguise). The sorcerer casts a spell on the mean-spirited prince, transforming him into a beast and his servants into household objects, and leaves an enchanted rose. The only way for the victims of the curse to regain their humanity is for the beast to learn to love and earn love before the bloom’s last petal falls.
And this is where the blast of color overtakes a dark stage as Belle strolls through the crowded streets of her provincial town. Dressed in a crisp blue village dress, she stands out among the yellow and subdued pastel hoop skirts of the peasant-women who greet her. She appears to be the “odd” gal in town because she likes books and even dares to occasionally wear glasses. But even bespectacled her look is striking.
Somehow Kyra Belle Johnson as Belle actually becomes more beautiful as the plot progresses – and it is not only the pretty pink frock she wears to dinner at the castle or even the splendid gold gown she appears in while dancing with the Beast that make for the augmentation. Johnson transitions from ingenue to mature womanhood through her imprisonment in the Beast’s castle, through rescuing her fragile but endearing father (in a scary, “special effect -ive” wolf-packed forest), and eventually through defending him against a mob of unruly town folk.
And though her leading men are drawn, like her, from two-dimensional cartoon characters, they add depth to their roles as the stock fairy tale villian Gaston , played by Stephen Mark Lukas and the lumbering Beast, played by Fergie L. Philippe. Both men break loose from the confines of their first impressions by amusing the audience with their nuanced asides and interactions. For Gaston the interplay is with his bumbling side-kick Le Fou (so well -bumbled by Harry Francis) and – for the Beast – his entertaining house staff turned household decor: Danny Gardner as the flamboyant candlestick Lumiere, Kathy Voytko as a motherly Mrs. (tea) Potts, Javier Ignacio as Cogsworth, the nervous ticking clock, Holly Ann Butler as the tipsy Madame turned armoire , and Cameron Monroe Thomas as flirty feather-duster Babette.
These adept inanimate objects of affection stage a remarkable show unto themselves, close to the end of Act One, in the song and dance display of castle hospitality that could rival the most lavish Ziegfield Follies revue – as well as the dance routines of TV’s Ed Sullivan show’s June Taylor dancers. Their routines were projected from above on our TV screens – as were the remarkable dancers in the “Be Our Guest”extravaganza, adding a kaleidoscopic effect to the showstopper. The human-sized cutlery and gigantic plates dancing Busby- Berkeley style is a forever forget-me-not musical theater number for sure.
Some of the original movie’s score have been replaced with songs that focus on character development and the Beast’s emotional awakening. Lyrics of the oldies and the script have also been updated. Thus, there is something that connects to any of the three generations of audience members — the youngest ladies wearing kid -sized replicas of Belle’s ball gown – that attended Tuesday’s opening night. A matinee would have better suited the kiddos who couldn’t make it through a second act that ran way past their bedtime. But for the most part, children of all ages -including the 76-year-old kiddo by my side – will forever remain enchanted by this timeless story of redemption made possible by true and pure love. And chances are they’ll also still be asking themselves just what stage trick created the illusion of Mrs. Pott’s son – a chipper teacup played by Levi Blaise Coleman- having his head (and only his head) visible on the tea cart.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” runs through April 12 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. $50.50-$215.50. bushnell.org.
