Beauty and the Beast
The fairy tale of the Beauty and the Beast is timeless. It can only be because it embodies enduring themes and archetypes. Transformations are possible, it tells us. Appearances can be deceptive. And, of course, Love Conquers All. The basic story has gone through many transformations: it’s been abridged, rewritten and adapted many, many times as fiction, film (most famously by Cocteau in 1946), television and theatre.
This return (the first Australian production was 1995) of the live action theatrical version of the 1991 Oscar-nominated animation version is simply spectacular. Since its inception, this show has run and run and received a plethora of awards. But then, theatrical technology has come a long way since 1995 and now, with this production, lighting, sound and huge cyclorama projections (a peaceful rural landscape, a frightening forest, the Beast’s castle – inside and out) - are contrasting marvels. The sets – Belle’s cute toy town village contrasting with the dark mysteries of the Beast’s castle – are suggestive and evocative rather than real.
But the ‘look’ and perfect technology aside, the producers and director Matt West have assembled an astonishing Australian lead cast and a most attractive and talented ensemble. Everyone, it seems, can act, sing, dance – and tap dance.
At the heart, of course, is the bookish beauty, Belle (a sweet Shubishri Kandia), who yearns for more than her village can offer, and the Beast himself (Brendan Xavier), cursed for an act of cruelty long ago. But Belle and the Beast are surrounded and supported by Rodney Dobson as Belle’s old father (here an inventor), the very talented Rubin Matters as Gaston, the village’s ultra-conceited spunk and Alpha male (or so he thinks), and, of course, the live crockery and furniture of the Beast’s castle: elegant candlestick Lumiere (Rohan Browne), straightlaced clock Cogsworth (Gareth Jacobs) kindly teapot Mrs Potts (Jayde Westaby), delightfully ornamental Babette (Hayley Martin), and sentimental vanity table Madame (Alana Tranter who has a lovely sort of old Hollywood quality).
In fact, the supporting cast are so talented and so much fun that they almost overshadow the central love story and the theme of transformation. In the beginning, the original creators, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were anxious that the story was ‘gothic and dark’ and didn’t fit ‘the profile of a song-driven musical’. Could the story be funny? Would the story support ‘celebratory production numbers’?
Between them, they – together with Linda Woolverton - solved these problems. That is, they concocted a hugely successful Broadway musical. Partly by minimising ‘gothic and dark’ and by making real, rounded and funny characters of the castle furniture (perhaps inspired by Cocteau’s movie which is much more spooky) who are even confidantes of the Beast and share his curse.
Then they made great fun with Belle’s would-be suitor, Gaston. And finally, by actually simplifying and reducing the growing love between Belle and the Beast. That element is certainly there but it develops via clear and straightforward plot points. Belle gets over her terror of the Beast rather quickly (so she can be part of the fabulous production number ‘Be Our Guest’) and she begins to fall for the Beast when he’s injured saving her life in the forest. The most touching scene comes when Belle reads him the story of King Arthur in the Beast’s vast library. As the Beast, he can’t read. Gaston, meanwhile, is so ridiculous that he’s never for a moment a rival for Belle – although his character does give rise to another fantastic production number, a sort of ecstatic drinking song, before he leads an assault on the Beast’s castle. (Someone picks up a pitchfork here – shades of the mob in Frankenstein’s Monster…) Perhaps, most curious here, is that the Beast is hot tempered and oafish but just not that threatening or scary. That’s no reflection on Brendan Xavier; it’s of a piece with the dilution of ‘gothic and dark’.
But in the end such reservations don’t matter. The love story of Beauty and the Beast is the hook, the premise and reason for this big budget, all-stops-out, all singing, all dancing, bells and whistles Broadway show in which all the elements work to perfection. There is so much humour, pizzazz, glamour, energy and beautifully choregraphed production numbers on stage that the audience is continuously smiling and audibly engaged. Gasps, oohs and aahs from the audience can be heard throughout. It’s so engaging it’s almost overwhelming and at the end we feel we have experienced something joyful and special.
Michael Brindley
Photographer: Daniel Boud
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