It takes a village— a village of 50 Frenchmen even— to assemble a production as massive as Disney’s Beauty & The Beast. And the little town— yes, that quiet village— with Belle, Gaston, all the enchanted objects? It’s set its sights on Small Town Stars Theatre Company and there it is! Disney’s Beauty & The Beast like you’ve never imagined it before, complete with flying shoes* and dancing peppermints all for young audiences, audiences young at heart, and anyone who enjoys the iconic song and the tale as old as time, coming to you for one weekend only in Westminster. Directed by Joel Roberson and Devon Moravec, with Vocal Direction by Avery Faust, and Choreography by Abigail Weinel, you’ve got a fairytale story that will enchant young audiences (and of course those young at heart) for an evening (or afternoon) as you engage with this quaint and charming production of Disney’s Beauty & The Beast.
There are some challenges with staging such a large, set-consuming show, some of which Directors Joel Roberson and Devon Moravec handle exceptionally well while others it appears they may still be figuring out. While it’s wonderful to include so many talented individuals on stage in their ensemble, there are a few scenes where the ‘mobs & masses’ are still attempting to make their exits into the wings while the next scene is getting underway. There were also a few pacing problems with changing around the scenery, mostly that the rolling fixtures— either the periaktoi with the castle walls, library shelves, and woodland trees weren’t making their way in and out of a scene fast enough or the two huge rolling structures that create Belle’s cottage and Gaston’s tavern interior weren’t quite coming together fully to create the backdrop that was imagined for them— this made things look a little clunky at times, but with some more practice, some more runs, surely things will tighten up. Choreographer Abigail Weinel had similar struggles, having so many people on stage for the bigger dance numbers often meant stage-crowding and some of the more sophisticated routines and movements that Weinel was attempting to include in her choreography was getting lost and muddy due to spacing challenges. Weinel does a fine job with the demi-arc kick-circle and even gets the mugs a-clanging during “Gaston”, which is fun to watch. There were also some sound issues (Sound Designer Jordan Jason was pretty quick to address them whenever they popped up— mostly feedback from the mics being too close together on stage) but with these hiccups aside, the show was still pretty entertaining.
The set itself— a true labor of love coming from dual-team designers and constructors Paul Keays and Tim Beavers— has a lot of moving pieces and there were some really lovely touches painted and put onto the scenery— particularly the life-size portrait of the young lad who played the prince in the opening sequence hanging on the castle wall above the mantlepiece. Lighting Designer Dakota Secula-Rosell enhanced a lot of the musical moments in the show— particularly whenever Beast was kneeling over the enchanted rose up in the ‘west wing’ elevation of the castle structure, giving a glimmering glow of red and gold shining down over these moments.
The most impressive design component of this production is Miranda Secula-Rosell’s costumes, assisted by Cara Wolf. The enchanted objects alone are cleverly fabricated into existence with a loads of little details (everything in the castle is in heart-pattern…the fine dining china, the tea set, etc.) and the drawers on Madame de la Grande Bouche are fully functional! If you’re at all familiar with Beauty & The Beast a certain level of magical enchantment is expected when it comes to the objects inside of Beast’s castle and Secula-Rosell delivers fully on that front, particularly when it comes to the dancing sugar cube, cheese grater, and twirling dinner-peppermints. Secula-Rosell’s sartorial selection is aided by the hair and makeup design of Mara Thresher, who gives ‘Les Filles De La Ville’ bright blocks of eyeshadow to match their dress colors, styles up Beast’s curls just so and puts a nice finishing touch on some of the other enchanted objects’ cheeks— they all have magical gold glitter dust markings to show you they’re truly enchanted!
The ensemble (Connor McIntyre, Alexandra Overby, Conor Harris, Jordan Wheeler, Charles Martin, Micah Haddock, Rebekah Chittenden, Darryl Warren, Regina Scancella, Jay McKinnon, Mark McAlevey, Alex Gibbs, Steve Simons, Dagny Beavers, Michelle Cantatore, Jules Barrett, Ava Mullaney, Oliva Ward, Dawn Bott, Kaylin Rock, Gianna Scancella, Clarissa Simons, Pam Hodge) is enough to give that line in the mob-song “…and 50 Frenchmen can’t be wrong…” some real weight. They populate the stage quite fully during “Belle”, and “Gaston” and “The Mob Song.” Under the vocal direction of Avery Faust, this ensemble really puts some volume behind those larger ensemble numbers. Keep your eye out for ‘Les Filles De La Ville’ (formerly referred to as ‘The Silly Girls’)— Savanna Wright, Genai Simons, Hannah Worley— who are bubbly and silly and all sorts of fun, especially during “Gaston” as the eponymous character in that number spins them and lifts them and twirls them all around.
Speaking of Gaston (Paul Keays) he does indeed go stomping around wearing boot(covers) and making himself look particularly boorish and intimidating. “Me” is one number where Abigail Weinel’s choreography is particularly successful— with the brutish Keays’ dragging, slugging, and King-Kong-lift-carrying poor Belle all around the stage (and her looks of resigned apathy and frantic, comedic disgust are absolutely hysterical!) Keays has a solid voice and gives the character that hint of Disney villain everyone has come to expect from Gaston. The real diamond in the rough is his sidekick, LeFou (Sean Olsson.) While Olsson could almost be Keays’ twin (they’re built of the same stature and are almost identical in height) you get a lot of excellent goofy physicality coming out of Olsson’s portrayal— including a full-on flat-to-the-stage split when LeFou refuses to go into the woods to fetch a deer for the ‘wedding feast’ followed by playing half-dead and staying in said split as Gaston physically drags him off the stage. Olsson has an excellent sense of physical comedy and really makes this skillset work well for his character.
The castle is filled with enchanted objects and they are some of the true highlights of this production. Watch out for little Chip (Beckett McIntyre) who is just adorable and precocious, especially when asking his mama, Mrs. Potts (Jessica Harris Keays) ‘what’s there’ at the end of “Something There.” Keays, who has a serviceable voice for the iconic titular number, sings sweetly during “Beauty & The Beast” and gives the audience the lullaby-esque sound they are expecting during that beloved moment. Madame de la Grande Bouche (Chiamaka Nwokeji) and Babette (Delaney Goodwin) are two more delectable furnishings come to life— the dresser and the feather duster respectively! Nwokeji has an excellent, operatic voice that lends itself perfectly to her portion of “Human Again” and her timing in her textual delivery is spot-on. Keep an eye on Goodwin’s Babette, particularly as she shuffles in her unique feathery dress and flirts with Lumiere. Her high-kicks in “Be Our Guest” are so well flung, they’re practically flying.
Lumiere (Will Brown) and Cogsworth (Andrew Lyon) are hands down the two most enchanting enchanted objects in the production. Both Brown and Lyon delve deep into their vocal affectation well to dig up accents appropriate for the character— with Lyon it’s that stiff-upper-lip-pinched British sound with a pip of nasally after-sound and a dash of flabbergasting exasperation and for Brown it’s that rich, schmaltzy French accent that is both charming and flirtatious but not so thick that he can’t be understood. Both Brown and Lyon not only maintain these accents throughout the performance but carry them flawlessly into their singing voices so that when Cogsworth and Lumiere are singing in numbers like “Human Again” or “Be Our Guest” you get their true character sound resonating throughout the song. Lyon’s Cogsworth is textbook taking clock. Tightly strung, whacky in those moments where he gets all wound up at Lumiere’s antics, and full of that huff-puff-gruff nature. Brown’s Lumiere is delightful as well, sleek and charming and all that jazz. The pair of them are true gems; they understand how to play off of one another, how to press each other’s buttons so to speak, and how to settle into the more somber moments of the performance (few and far between though they are in the libretto.) Brown and Lyon are truly well-deserving of their thunderous ovations at the curtain call for their respective portrayals of Lumiere and Cogsworth.
Taking up the mantle of the titular characters, Erica Hansbrough is presenting a winsome, wholesome, Disney Princess. Modeling her voice on Paige O’Hara (the original animated Belle) you get a cadence and patois that sounds almost identical to the 1991 animated film character. She sings sweetly and syrupy with that patented, practiced ‘Disney’ smile through her half of “No Matter What”— a lovely duet with quirky father Maurice (Tim Beavers) and presents the voice of Belle in both “Is This Home?” and “A Change in Me” hitting the notes with level, clear tones. She plays to the letter the arch of change when it comes to the Beast (David Kaiser), cold and standoffish, slowly learning to befriend him, finally falling in love with him, in true fairytale style. Kaiser, as the brooding beast, has a rich booming voice perfect for “If I Can’t Love Her” and its reprise. Kaiser also manages the ‘temper’ of the beast in that slightly humorous vein so that our younger audiences don’t find themselves too frightened of him. Kaiser and Hansbrough twirl divinely together— including a gentle lift and spin— during “Beauty & The Beast” and it’s truly enchanting.
So be their guest! Be their guest! You’ve got three more chances to see the rest! Beauty & The Beast is here through the weekend and you won’t want to miss that last rose petal fall!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Disney’s Beauty & The Beast plays with Small Town Stars Theatre Company through Sunday July 28th 2024 in The Scott Center of Carroll Community College— 1601 Washington Road, Westminter, MD. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online.
*flying shoes not guaranteed (or even scripted) at all performances
