Gareth Jacobs, Hayley Martin, Rohan Browne, Jayde Westaby and Alana Tranter in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast the Musical – performing Human Again – Photo by Daniel Boud
The show: It starts with the dulcet tones of the late, great Angela Lansbury, who narrates the introduction to the story of how a spoilt prince became The Beast – a transformation that happens in front of your eyes and leaves you wondering how on earth they did it. I love that the original creative team are behind this production, and I love the electrifying energy the cast have. I couldn’t help but think just how much physical, vocal and dance training they would have had to do to nail the demanding numbers. Just wow. It is also quite transformational, the DNA running through this story, that the two leads are virtual newcomers. Belle is played by Shubshri Kandiah, and Beast is Brendan Xavier. Kandiah has the voice of an angel, and radiates the quiet strength that our Belle has to be who she wants to be. She reads, she wears glasses, and she sees through the vacuous, he-man, chest-thumping neanderthal that is Gaston (played brilliantly by Jackson Head). In fact, the Gaston number is one of my favourites, with phenomenal choreography. Gaston, Le Fou and the superb ensemble clink mugs a jaw-dropping 821 times during this number, while leaping, dancing, singing and not missing a beat. The applause was loooooong, and only surpassed by the standing ovation for the wonderful Be My Guest which is outrageously big, beautiful, colourful and did I say big? Think HUGE! Just as well interval came shortly afterwards because I needed a rest. It is exhausting watching all that action!
Gareth Jacobs, Hayley Martin, RoShubshri Kandiah, Rohan Browne and the company of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast the Musical – performing Be Our Guest – Photo by Daniel Boud
The second half brought all the feels, laughter, sadness and happy tears – and not just from me but from everyone around me. The transformation of The Beast (beautifully played by Brendan Xavier), from a very cranky and rude man to a thoughtful, caring and book-loving prince is handled well. The supporting household implements brought the comedy, the oohs and the aahs, with Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Babette and Madame almost stealing the show. And Chip of course. The ethereal number, Beauty and the Beast, is delivered with aplomb and emotion by Mrs Potts (Jayde Westaby). For some reason, my eyes don’t stop leaking.
An uber-cool feast for the senses, Synetic Theater’s Beauty and The Beast (★★★★☆) resoundingly reclaims the notion of the fairytale, yanking it firmly back from the ravages of corporate America and bringing it, fully burnished, into the realm of unfettered imagination.
And make no mistake: although you most certainly can and should bring a child to this production, this wondrously-entertaining dance-theater experience is absolutely for adults.
This is not because of anything edgy (which Synetic has certainly been known to do), but by virtue of its charmingly amusing and sophisticated sensibilities. It is the salon tale its original 18th-century author, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, intended, brought to extraordinary life.
From the moment the lights fall, this is wholly immersive storytelling, with co-directors Ben Cunis and Vato Tsikurishvili summoning a magical world through an extraordinarily skillful blend of dance, shadow-play, acrobatics, props, and lighting set to a vibrant tapestry of sound and music. This is choreography — not just of dance, but of an entire experience.
Although co-adaptors Ben and Peter Cunis draw from Villeneuve’s tale, the 1946 film by Jean Cocteau, and their own imaginations, the plotline will still be familiar to those brainwashed by Disney.
After her father accidentally provokes the Beast in his castle, Belle tries to make things right by visiting the Beast to make her appeal. Despite her initial trepidations, she grows to understand and become fond of the surprisingly personable creature.
As with most versions, we learn that the Beast is a prince who has been cursed to remain in his unnatural form until he is loved, although here the backstory is given some interesting elaboration.
The past and present is narrated with great effectiveness by a highly-charismatic Rachael Small as the witch Emmeranne, taking the form of a neo-Gothic blackbird with a penchant for French spells.
As with most Synetic productions, Beauty and the Beast is very much an ensemble piece, with even the smallest parts touched by choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili’s enduringly inventive vision.
This is, without doubt, essential to what makes the production so intriguing — be it the whirlwind of dance-mime, a cleverly comic turn, or life-sized candle bearers looking like they just stepped out of an art deco frieze. There is nothing short of a non-stop array of engagingly other-worldly activity — all of it as far removed from the dumbed-down, me-first, over-messaged zeitgeist as one can possibly get.
As for the leads, these are most certainly star turns for Zana Gankhuyag as the Beast, and Irinka Kavsadze as Belle. An extraordinary mover and dancer, Gankhuyag succeeds mightily in a key essential here — projecting a personality full of warmth and appeal from beneath a masked and be-furred exterior.
As the young motorcycle-boot-wearing Belle, Kavsadze breaks free of the usual stereotypes by creating a woman of strength without swagger, whose value in the world is not defined by her sexual allure. This is a credit to the direction overall: never are we subjected to the crass. This is theater that delivers by telling a really good story.
If this is all beginning to sound a bit highbrow, suffice to say there is plenty of humor, too. Channeling some clever Pepé Le Pew ardor is Jacob Thompson’s suitor, a village youth frantic for Belle’s attention. Thompson is not just a talented mover; he has superb comic timing.
Other comic standouts are Belle’s sisters Marie and Claudette, played by Irene Hamilton and Nutsa Tediashvili. These actor/dancers make it look effortless, but there is much skill in a balancing act that allows Tediashvili to go full-bore without stealing too much from her scenes.
Rounding out the cast and making for indispensable anchors are Irakli Kavsadze as Belle’s father, Jean-Paul, and Philip Fletcher as Magnificent, the Beast’s factotum and horse. Kavsadze is wonderfully understated here, bringing a genuine warmth and connection to Belle.
Fetcher, always a tremendous dancer, makes for a wonderfully friendly and ethereal presence in the story, a clever counterpoint to the ever-near blackbird. Kudos to Osama Ashour and Lev Belolipetski for bringing beauty to their candle bearers and the innumerable other roles they shared with the ensemble.
Finally, no Synetic production is complete without intense aural moods, and Clint Herring and Andrew Gerlicher provide atmospheric music in tandem with a highly-evocative soundscape courtesy of the wider Synetic team.
There is no better way to escape the last of the winter nights and the noisome fray of everyday life than with this reminder that there still is still plenty of beauty, if you only know where to look.
Beauty and the Beast runs through April 2 at Synetic Theater, 1800 S. Bell St. in Arlington, Va. Tickets are $35 to $65. Call 703-824-8060 ext. 117 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
Is the new Beauty and the Beast good?
April 4, 2022 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review… You can add Beauty and the Beast to the list of well made Disney live-action remakes. While not better than the 1991 original, it is a nice representation of one of the greatest animated films ever made and more evidence that Disney can do no wrong.
Is Beauty and the Beast series worth watching?
If you have watched the 2017 version of Beauty and the Beast, is it worth it watching the original 1991 animated version too? Yes it is worth a watch, the live action version is just a modern re-telling of the classic.
Is Beauty and the Beast musical worth it?
Highly recommend dinner and the show. My family and I will be back again - but will sit even closer to the front next time! A great show!
What is the critique for the movie Beauty and the Beast?
In short, there's plenty of spectacle in Beauty and the Beast, which will be enough for many if not most young audiences. But there isn't much magic, and what there is coasts on 26-year-old fumes. This new mainly live-action Disney version of the oft-told story directed by Bill Condon feels largely perfunctory.