Well, who’d have thought? Well, bless my soul! Well, who’d have guessed? Well, who indeed? That Phoenix Festival Theatre would be sold out before you could be their guest? Just wait and see— standing room at least— that’s all that’s left for their stunning production of Beauty and The Beast. Disney has a funny way of enchanting ticket buyers to purchase tickets before the run even truly gets underway. Good luck finding someone who wants to give up their ticket to this sold-out performance. Directed by Matth Peterson, with Musical Direction by Mia Bray, and Choreographed by Leslie Perry, the enchanting tale as old as time is every bit as sparkling, magical, and delightful as one could hope for from a community theatre production of a Disney show. But you’ll need a Disney-grade miracle to get into to see it as all the tickets are currently sold out.
Tiered castle steps and bricks, by way of Set Designer William Yarbrough, create the illusion of the castle where most of the show takes place. It’s not quite a minimalist set— there’s definitely a neat dungeon cell as well as an ominous placement for the foreboding ‘west wing’— rather it encourages the audience to engage their imaginations fully when it comes to the spectacle of scenery. But the production’s aesthetics are tied together by Costumers Brenda Kinzinger and Joyce Williams. You get all of the enchantment you expect when it comes to the enchanted objects— like Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts— and the stable couture— Belle’s beautiful yellow ball gown, Gaston’s bursting red vest— are all well in place. Kinzinger and Williams do a pretty decent job of outfitting the expansive ensemble as well. There’s peasant skirts by the score for the innumerable women and kid ensemble featured in this production. And they pull out all of the quirky, delightful stops for “Be Our Guest” too. There’s glittery-vested cutlery, whose vests are silver and whose forks, knives, and spoons are good, there’s delightful China plates, and even the most adorable little tulle-tutu-toppers for the children ensemble (Zuri Goetz, Jackson Jewett, Eloise Lader, Layton Long, Joey Mitchell, Korie Mitchell, Parker Peterson, Josephine Russell, Ridley Russell) who are featured as little votive candles and spin and dance with Lumiere during the number. It’s really too precious for words and a great way to incorporate younger children into the production.
Leslie Perry’s Choreography is enthusiastic and brings attention to some of the more experienced dancers during the performance. You get a semi-arc of high-kicking ‘Napcan-can’ dancers (Erin Acerno, Samantha Jednorski, Chloe Morris, Stephanie Peterson, Whitney Russell) during “Be Our Guest”, with the wildest semi-rainbow-underskirts and some bizarre but beautiful purple-plastic-cutlery tiaras to help them stand out as they kick their way to grace and glory in that number. Where Perry’s efforts as the show’s choreographer really shine is during “Gaston” the raucous, rowdy number in the pub which features a nod to the original Broadway-choreography of mug-clanging. Perry has some of the ensemble doing the more intricate mug-clap-slap— including some individuals on the floor reaching up! – and others in the line that just hypes up the overall vibe of this number. You even get to see some of the more ballet-inspired interpretations that Perry is capable of by way of Erin Acerno, who plays the Enchantress at the beginning. Acerno utilizes her whole body and a series of serenely beautiful moves to ‘cast a spell’ upon the castle and all of its inhabitants and its quite the visual showcase between her fluidity and the shimmery cloak (one heck of a costume transition) she wears.
Musical Director Mia Bray gets robust and hearty sounds from the ensemble*— the mark of a knowledgeable musical director— and not just because there are quite a few of them. Coordinating that many voices to sound clear, on pitch and in tune is quite the feat, one which Bray manages impressively, particularly during “The Mob Song” where some of Disney’s darker lyrics truly get their due, with crisp articulation and delivery. Bray brings boisterous voices together in good timing for the more both “Gaston” and “Belle.”
Despite a few questionably delineated spatial allocations on the set as characters move on and off the stage, Director Matt Peterson runs a tight ship, delivers the Disney dream, and even finds a few individual and quirky ways to make the production stand out as a unique experience. You’ll find four ‘Silly Girls’ in this production, rather than three— Samantha Murray, Stephanie Peterson, Lindsay Serio, and Isabel Bray. Murray, Peterson, and Serio do the traditional fawning all over Gaston while Isabel Bray has hilarious responses to their nonsense and eventually finds herself falling and gushing over LeFou. (It’s a clever solution for an oversight in community theatre casting where the characters in question are being played by real-life siblings.) Peterson also gets clever with some of the enchanted objects. I’ve seen a good dozen productions of Beauty & The Beast and I’ve never seen a dancing centerpiece appear during “Be Our Guest”, and certainly not one made out of white-lattice fencing with greenish pool-noodles for suspender straps, bursting with flowers. It’s an impressive feat of imaginative inclusion and it works well for this production. Peterson and Mia Bray encourage the characters to make some of the numbers their own and this is particularly successful when it comes to whatever insane magic Gaston is rolling out during his opening bit in “Belle.”
Though our Young Prince (Jackson Smith) is only featured for a moment at the top of the performance, when he paces the stage with that surly attitude, you feel a bit revolted just watching him. Smith pops up throughout the ensemble but it’s an impressive trick to deliver such an emotion in so short a spans of time and without any line or lyric to assist said delivery. You get the spooky-looking Monsieur D”Arque (Ryan Kaczmarczyk) and regrettably all he gets to do is look spooky. (Disney has retooled the rights of the touring production…cutting “Maison De Lunes”…which is bogus but they also cut “The Morning Report” from The Lion King so…) Again, with no real line or lyric to aid in his character development, Kaczmarczyk does an impressive job of giving you the willies simply be being there.
You’ve got crazy, loveable Maurice (Joe Mannherz) who has a surprisingly deep and balanced sound for his moment in duet with Belle during “No Matter What.” Mannherz understands the befuddled yet quizzically comical nature of Maurice and delivers a pretty textbook edition of the elderly father fellow.
As far as enchanted objects go… this castle runs the gamut from whacky to wondrous and everything in-between. There’s the shrilly proud, though lovely-voiced Madame de la Grande Bouche (Karly Horn) who is simply bursting out of her bureau with a need to be noticed or at the very least remembered. Then there’s the matronly, heavily English-accented Mrs. Potts (Jennifer Biglen) who navigates the stage superbly in that teapot-tog, and it’s even more impressive because she manages to push and pull the teacart unassisted, which contains the adorable and chipper Chip (at this performance, Kyle Perry.) Horn and Biglen add their voices beautifully to “Something There” and “Human Again.”
Squeaking in her intentionally overdone French accent (to further the illusion that her character is in fact a ‘French Maid’, completely made obvious by the fabulous and feathery costume fitted to her), Angie Sokolov’s Babette is fun to watch as she flits around the stage. She has a field day when Maurice arrives to the castle, bringing a radiant energy to that moment that is all too often otherwise a missed opportunity.
With an exacting, precise sense of comic timing— but seriously, could you expect anything less?— Will Meister Murray’s Cogsworth is spot-on. Murray is channeling some serious Eric Idol energy both in his delivery and his generalized accent of the character. His mincing walk is perfecting; his overreaction to even the most basic situations is comic gold, and Murray understands exactly when to play up the moment and when to back it off to a more neutral level. There’s something timeless about his approach to Cogsworth and it really puts its stamp on the production.
Flaming and fabulous and equally over-accented in the best way possible, you get a great many laughs out of watching Joseph Murphy light up in the role of Lumiere. His banter with Cogsworth is second to none, his understanding of comedy and delivery is equally impressive, even if his character gravitates a bit more to the over-the-top campy kitsch (and that’s totally okay— it fits the ‘fool made of wax’ moniker slung at him by his overly-wound-up counterpart.) Shimmering with everything one can hope for— including some extra shiny ham-glaze for that bridge-section which ends in ‘oopsie daisy!’— Murphy blazes through “Be Our Guest” in a way that makes it the perfect false finale to the first act. (It really should be the finale…but Disney wants to gut-punch you once more to remember that it’s not all shiny, happy, shimmery all the time before they send you to the snack bar and restrooms at intermission.)
Taking the comic cake with all of his intense physicality, Austin Barnes is out of this world when it comes to stumbling, bumbling, throttling himself all over the floor and just generally ‘rolling with the punches’ in the role of LeFou. There aren’t enough good comic words to describe the sheer nonsense Barnes is bringing to the table in this role. And he commits to a character voice that is both hysterical and unwavering, carrying purely into “Gaston”, which is a song where he spends more time being knocked down, dragged around, and generally falling over himself to build up the ego of the already swollen-headed Gaston. Barnes is a trip. And he takes several trips. To the floor. Barnes’ interactions with Gaston are uproarious and will leave you in stitches.
Watching Eric Bray Jr. play the iconic Disney villain, Gaston, feels a bit like a full-on character meet-n-greet in Magic Kingdom just outside of Gaston’s tavern in Fantasyland. Bray Jr. has somehow managed to embody the narcissism of Gaston, balance it against his own interpretation of the character, and deliver something that is equal parts newly exciting and sincerely tried & true. It’s an astonishing accomplishment— and did I mention he can sing like there’s no tomorrow? What’s wild is the way he approaches his feature bits in “Belle”; this is a place where creative takes on the music work boldly, brilliantly, and add something refreshing to the production. Bray Jr. is the perfect encapsulation of charmingly toxic charisma that just erupts from him both vocally and physically. Once the character gets brought around (through all the tireless efforts of LeFou) during “Gaston” that number becomes so super-charged it can easily be labeled the most effervescent and enthusiastic in this production.
That only leaves the titular characters. Jess Simonson and Jake Stuart, Belle and the Beast, respectively, are well suited to play opposite one another. Simonson takes a different approach to Belle than is the standard norm. There’s more agency palpable in her portrayal, more of a determination and an overall absorption of all the negative emotions that too often get brushed aside in lilting Disney princess roles. While there are moments of bliss, joy, even fun in Simonson’s approach to Belle (and she looks the part whether it’s in the blue dress and white apron or the iconic and expected gorgeous ballgown), there is something more emotionally stabilizing about her portrayal. Musically she’s a perfect fit— everything from “Home” to “A Change In Me” to “Belle” reads classic storybook Disney Princess Heroine. But it’s truly refreshing to see some of these hardened emotional moments that Simonson brings to the forefront of the portrayal.
Stuart’s Beast is intriguing as well. There are times when it feels like he just doesn’t quite have a handle on the out-of-control temper and rage-driven ire of The Beast. Chalk it up to final-dress-nerves or maybe a subtle character choice to try to give him less of a grandiose transition. It’s excusable and almost not noticeable unless you’re B&TB purist looking for the extremes of rage which then melts into kindness. Stuart has a charming voice, which is really emotionally sunk into the mire of tragedy for both “If I Can’t Love Her” and “How Long Must This Go On?” (both songs exclusive to the stage musical.) His tender interactions with Simonson, particularly as they’re reading King Arthur feel genuine and very sweet. The pair are perfectly suited for this production.
I’d say— “be their guest! Be their guest!” (cliché though it is…you can’t resist!) Except…they’re sold out. So you’ll have to be Phoenix Festival Theatre’s guest in spirit for this production of Beauty and The Beast.
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Beauty & The Beast plays through March 12, 2023 with Phoenix Festival Theatre in the Chesapeake Center at Harford Community College— 401 Thomas Run Road in Bel Air, MD. Tickets for this performance are sold out.
Patrons are encouraged to call the box office— 443-412-2189 to be placed on a hold list, or to arrive at the performance in hopes that there are no shows. (Please be aware that neither of these options guarantees a seat to view the performance if you have not already procured a ticket.)
*with nearly 40 ensemble members, including the children’s ensemble, not all members of the ensemble were able to be listed within the confines of the review; for a complete list of ensemble players, please see the program.
