Recap Disney’s Beauty And The Beast at Overture Center

The special corner of the Internet committed to talking about the Disney animated features remains mostly dedicated to something commonly called the “princess debate.” Belle, the heroine of Beauty And The Beast—which kicked off an eight-show run at the Overture Center Tuesday—has become an important figure in that discussion, and rightfully so. Her strong and smart character represented a turning point and a light-year jump ahead of dopey Snow White. But who’s having the Disney prince debate? Because The Beast deserves to be a contender for top pick. He shows some actual emotions and he’s able to date a total babe despite being covered in hair. But The Beast of Disney’s Best Picture-nominated film didn’t quite translate the same way to the stage.

Dane Agostinis’ Beast gets the temper right and storms around the stage like he truly is pissed, but something about his puffy costume and voice makes him seem much less menacing than the film version to whom he will always be compared. Emily Behny’s Belle is spot-on, though. She masters the cute singing voice, the purposeful yet graceful walk, and the odd amount of confidence for the town outsider. But as Belle and The Beast’s awkward courtship played out, understudy Jeff Brooks’ Gaston up and stole the show. Preening and flexing about the stage as Andrew Kruep’s Lefou expertly flopped and tumbled every time he slugged him, Gaston led a tremendous performance of “Gaston” with the bar patrons clanking their glasses together and scored big laughs just by butchering words like rendezvous.

The original music by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice provided the most highlights, especially during the streamer-shooting spectacle “Be Our Guest,” made all the more enjoyable by Michael Haller’s slightly sleazy Lumiere and a hilarious dancing door mat. But the instantly recognizable songs, like “Something There” and “Beauty And The Beast,” can’t help much in the challenge to expand an 80-something-minute movie into a two-hour-plus stage production. One approach added songs, some good (“Human Again,” which shows up on the special edition of the film) and some not quite as good (“If I Can’t Love Her,” a solo for the sad, sad Beast). But efforts to beef up the script yielded more consistent results, like Belle and her father’s talk about how he met her mother. Giving the enchanted objects more depth, like noticing their humanity slipping away and turning La Madame De La Grande Bouche (the armoire) into a nostalgic opera diva, worked wonders for the story.

In the end, any attempt to bring Disney’s beautifully rendered modern masterpiece (even gamer websites like IGN declare it the best of all time) to life will almost certainly disappoint a little. But with spirited performances and big laughs—most intentional and some not, like Chip as a head sticking through a hole cut in a table, which caused a chuckle nearly every time he showed up—this inventive interpretation of the beloved bridge between hand-drawn and digital films definitely stands up.