Be our guest!
Beauty and the Beast at CM is perfect for the family
Photo Credit: Janette Pellegrini
BY SAM DESMOND
Children throughout the audience of CM Performing Arts Center’s opening night of Beauty and the Beast on Saturday, Nov. 2 raised light-up red roses like lighters at a Led Zeppelin concert during the performance with sheer glee and enthusiasm for the high-energy and true-to-story production of the Disney classic.
Director Alyse Arpino created a world where human form and classical animation came together for a night of family theater that will surely form core memories for the young audience, and nostalgic delight for older theater-goers.
The dynamic set design with the intricate but bold moving pieces crafted by John Mazzarella created the world of Beauty and the Beast even without any utterance of words or song, with clear separation of the sepia-toned cottage of Belle and Maurice, to the sparkling white columns of the “Be Our Guest” number.
Costume designer Ronald R. Green, III had abundant fun with the French rococo dress and managed to tailor rainbow fabrics in scenes like “Gaston” where the liveliness of the choreography by Melissa Rapelje paradoxically shone like a beacon and anchored huge ensemble scenes.
The supporting characters, arguably written with more larger-than-life characteristics, were the standouts with Patrick Campbell’s bumbling and frenzied LeFou, Keith Jones’s perfectly foppish Lumiere, Brian Frank’s prim and proper and prone to perfectionism Cogswoth, Camilla Montoya’s sulking Betty Boop as Babette, Sarah Klaum’s English nanny epitomized as Mrs. Potts, and Lacey Cornell’s Ophelia-esque operatic Madame de La Grande Bouche.
Campbell’s physical transformation into the stocky, clumsy, yet hilariously insightful LeFou was a wonder to watch as he played wet nurse to a sulky Gaston played by Zak Ketcham in all the muscled glory befitting the Fabio of the 18th century France.
Keith Jones as the French Austin Powers was hilarity personified with great comic relief and tremendous endurance of voice in “Be Our Guest.”
Laura Laureano as Belle of course had the powerhouse vocals to carry Belle through some of the most iconic Disney songs of a generation, but most notably lent an air of sophisticated gumption to Belle as the strong lead who could see through Gaston and into the Beast.
Aaron Mor as the Beast had a more restrained portrayal of the character whose disgust at his form and yearning for Belle to see him as his old self was poignant especially in the finale where he transforms back to human.
Laureano’s Belle and Kevin Todd’s Maurice shared a beautiful father/daughter relationship stemming from their respective intellectual curiosities resulted in such deep meaning for the central conflict of Belle being held prisoner.
With perfect timing for the holiday season, Beauty and the Beast will be a treasured experience for families this November.
Tickets can be purchased at: www.cmpac.com/shows/beauty-and-the-beast
Link to Review: https://www.suffolkcountynews.net/stories/be-our-guest,96090
