Happy Friday All,
My heart is dancing today (well aside from being slightly tired because Youngest had a bit of a rough night) but I won't let that ruin why I'm on an emotional high.
Last night, as an early anniversary present to ourselves, my handsome Real Life Hero (my husband) and had a rare night out
and went to see the musical of Disney's Beauty And The Beast.
Not everyone dresses up at this theater, but I was brought up that fancy places like the one we went to, you wear something dressier than jeans or khakis and a top. So I wore a floral pleated skirt, a dressy black top, my new sparkly low-heeled
sandals, sparkly necklace and bracelet. And, with the help of at least a dozen bobby-pins, I put my hair up (all by myself, which is really something since I'm completely uncoordinated with fixing hair. I'm lucky I can do a simple bun and low or high ponytails. I can't even really braid my own hair or operate a curling iron. I know that's kind of sad and pathetic for a woman of my age, but it's the truth!)
Real Life Hero wore a new black suit, dark green shirt, tie, and dress shoes (he looked so handsome. But,
I'm not sharing him. You want a hero, you'll have to choose someone else. LOL :-) ).
We arrived with enough time to hang around the areas outside the main part of the theater. Husband got a Sprite, and I got a bottle of water. Then it was time to get to our seats. We were up in the gallery, so I was a little dizzy, but it was okay. Real Life Hero lived up to his hero status and kept me steady.
Before I get into the details of the performance, from my personal point of view and opinion, despite the number of children we saw, both Real Life Hero and I agree the musical is for more mature audiences. Some of the humor, acting,
and at least one of the songs isn't exactly geared toward them. This is me and my husband's opinion and not to start any debate. Each parent has to decide what's best for their kids, we're just giving our input.
The musical opens much like the movie. Our version didn't have any stained glass windows for this part like the movie, but that does NOT take ANYTHING away from the performance.
Some of the main differences (aside from humor, innuendo, and music being more mature) is that there are more musical numbers, and some things expanded on, and other things changed to suit the venue. In movies you can do things you can't do on a stage and vice versa.
One of the songs that isn't in the movie, and one of my new favorites, is If I Can't Love Her, and the Reprise. I loved seeing more into the Beast's emotions in a way the movie doesn't show as much. It also put me in mind of a little of how Monroe sometimes
feels in my novel, All's Fair In Love & Lion.
Also, the lessons the servants give the Beast (Sam Hartley did an awesome job in this role) and the way he tried to implement them were hilarious. At one point he was repeating to himself "Act like a gentleman. Act. Like. A. GENTLEman." It was cute and heartwarming.
Brooke Quintana gave a lovely performance as Belle. She can belt out some of those notes, too. It was amazing! I really enjoyed one of the new songs they had for Belle called Home.
Speaking of Gaston, Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek was superb. He played up the arrogance even more than the movie, and sang extremely well.
In the movie, LeFou (Gaston's sidekick) is a bit of a bumbler. In the musical they played this aspect of his personality up with a ton of tumbling. Both me and Real Life Hero were extremely impressed with Matt Dasilva's performance.
You can get the full cast information here.
The Be Our Guest musical number was impressive (and got a ton of applause). The Beast's transformation was also done well.
There's a Gaston song called Me. Given the time period of the story (probably early 1700s) it illustrates much of the mindset of a woman's role in society and how they were often viewed. It's not the most flattering toward women type of song, but when taken in context, it makes sense.
All in all, if the musical is coming to your area, I highly recommend going. It's romantic, funny, fun, and definitely worth it.
I plan on getting the soundtrack at some point. I really enjoyed it.
Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!
My heart is dancing today (well aside from being slightly tired because Youngest had a bit of a rough night) but I won't let that ruin why I'm on an emotional high.
Last night, as an early anniversary present to ourselves, my handsome Real Life Hero (my husband) and had a rare night out
 |
| Picture of the program we got at the performance |
Not everyone dresses up at this theater, but I was brought up that fancy places like the one we went to, you wear something dressier than jeans or khakis and a top. So I wore a floral pleated skirt, a dressy black top, my new sparkly low-heeled
Real Life Hero wore a new black suit, dark green shirt, tie, and dress shoes (he looked so handsome. But,
 |
| Real Life Hero and I at the performance |
We arrived with enough time to hang around the areas outside the main part of the theater. Husband got a Sprite, and I got a bottle of water. Then it was time to get to our seats. We were up in the gallery, so I was a little dizzy, but it was okay. Real Life Hero lived up to his hero status and kept me steady.
Before I get into the details of the performance, from my personal point of view and opinion, despite the number of children we saw, both Real Life Hero and I agree the musical is for more mature audiences. Some of the humor, acting,
 |
| Me inside the theater. I'm not sure why I look so serious, I was having a good time. |
The musical opens much like the movie. Our version didn't have any stained glass windows for this part like the movie, but that does NOT take ANYTHING away from the performance.
Some of the main differences (aside from humor, innuendo, and music being more mature) is that there are more musical numbers, and some things expanded on, and other things changed to suit the venue. In movies you can do things you can't do on a stage and vice versa.
One of the songs that isn't in the movie, and one of my new favorites, is If I Can't Love Her, and the Reprise. I loved seeing more into the Beast's emotions in a way the movie doesn't show as much. It also put me in mind of a little of how Monroe sometimes
Also, the lessons the servants give the Beast (Sam Hartley did an awesome job in this role) and the way he tried to implement them were hilarious. At one point he was repeating to himself "Act like a gentleman. Act. Like. A. GENTLEman." It was cute and heartwarming.
Brooke Quintana gave a lovely performance as Belle. She can belt out some of those notes, too. It was amazing! I really enjoyed one of the new songs they had for Belle called Home.
In the movie, LeFou (Gaston's sidekick) is a bit of a bumbler. In the musical they played this aspect of his personality up with a ton of tumbling. Both me and Real Life Hero were extremely impressed with Matt Dasilva's performance.
You can get the full cast information here.
The Be Our Guest musical number was impressive (and got a ton of applause). The Beast's transformation was also done well.
There's a Gaston song called Me. Given the time period of the story (probably early 1700s) it illustrates much of the mindset of a woman's role in society and how they were often viewed. It's not the most flattering toward women type of song, but when taken in context, it makes sense.
All in all, if the musical is coming to your area, I highly recommend going. It's romantic, funny, fun, and definitely worth it.
I plan on getting the soundtrack at some point. I really enjoyed it.
Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!
Comments
Love 'Home' from Beauty and the Beast, too.
Hope you're having a great weekend. Thank you for dropping by and commenting. :-)