The first time I saw Beauty and the Beast, I didn’t see the Disney version. Oh, it had already gone to video. And while I likely would have eventually seen it — Disney’s pervasive like that — what really made me want to see it was seeing the 1946 version: Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête. This grippingly, hauntingly beautiful film touched me. When I did see Disney’s animated version of this story, it pleased me that so much of it held onto the surreal qualities of the Cocteau film.
Beauty and the Beast at American Stage in the Park is lovely.
While it’s no Cocteau film, it’s also not supposed to be. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a lovely retelling of a “tale as old as time.” (Dammit, Howard Ashman, you were right — there’s really no better way to describe this story.) It’s a story of looking beyond the surface. Some schools of thought believe it’s an allegory for the AIDS epidemic. They may not be wrong; Ashman died of AIDS shortly before Disney’s Beauty and the Beast animated film hit theaters in 1991. He likely witnessed the quite real ostracization of people with HIV or AIDS in the ’80s. Certainly, the narrative of the story fits, there, too.
No matter how you view the story, American Stage tells it exceptionally well.
It’s made all the sweeter by its park setting. I once worked at then-Disney-MGM Studios, and part of my job involved crowd control for the Beauty and the Beast stage show. That was — and is — an outdoor theater, too. While the two sets differ quite a bit from the ones at American Stage in the Park, it feels like an expanded theme park show.
The performers, each one on point and flawless, bring a Disney-caliber performance to American Stage. While the classic songs, treasured story, and overall zeitgeist of the show would make any performance delightful, the cast here makes the show. Belle (Alexi Ishida) and Beast (Joey Birchler), of course, are standouts. Gaston’s (Nik Vlachos) a deliciously evil delight in tight pants. But… please can we talk for a moment about Lumiere? Mathenee Treco plays him as a sly, clever genius, and had he painted a different picture of the candle-representing, somewhat foppish, maître d’, the show would not have delivered on as many levels as it did.
Arts All Around!
The Gabber Newspaper covers live theater and art across South Pinellas. When we find something worth the drive, in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas.
Go See Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at American Stage in the Park
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast American Stage in the Park, Demens Landing Park, Bayshore Dr. & 2nd Ave. S., St. Petersburg. Through May 5: Wed.-Sun., 7:30 p.m. Pet night: April 14; Pride night, April 21. $35-$45, chairs and blanket seating. americanstage.org
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