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When I was little, maybe five or six, my dad gave me a Beauty and the Beast jewelry music box. It was a simple piece, with a spinning Belle inside. In her iconic yellow gown, she twirled to “Beauty and the Beast.” Sitting in the ornate Cadillac Palace Theatre the other night, I couldn’t help but think of my jewelry box. In many ways, the intricate murals, details and chandeliers of the Palace create its own kind of music box, ensconcing the stage for a beloved story to be told. But instead of a single figure, it holds all of the thirtieth anniversary tour of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” as it makes its way around the country.
And that tour? It is an absolute gem. A pearl befitting its thirtieth anniversary, this production reminds us how well Disney magic translates to the stage.
That magic began with an oh-so-familiar sound. Angela Lansbury’s unmistakable voice unveiled the story put before us. The original cinematic Mrs. Potts as the prologue narrator was a subtle reminder that this tale may indeed be as old as time. From there, we were whisked away by familiar characters into a far-off provincial town in France, where a young woman falls in love with a beast.
At the center of it all, Kyra Belle Johnson as Belle and Fergie L. Philippe as Beast are a marvel. The two embrace their characters, treading carefully between typical Disney cartoonish wonder and full-hearted realism. Something that immediately struck me about these two was their names. Clearly, with the names Belle and Philippe (the name of Maurice’s and Belle’s horse in the film) by their side, these two were destined for roles in this show.
But I’ll be honest, even when I worked on this show as a high-school student nearly twenty years ago, it’s the baddies that often steal the show. That’s the beauty of Disney pieces: if given the chance, they’ll expand upon what we think we know about the villains to make them even more interesting. Gaston (Stephen Mark Lukas) and Lefou (Harry Francis) easily foil Belle and Beast. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that Gaston and Lefou have the same number of syllables as Beauty and the Beast in the titular song verse. It matches perfectly. So too do Lukas and Francis. Their comedic duality plays off of one another so well, it’s no wonder the song “Gaston” was the biggest showstopper of the night, earning the cast one of the mid-show standing ovations.
Under the direction of Matt West, Disney pulled out all the stops for this tour with their talent pool. The cast is stacked with Broadway and tour veterans like Javier Ignacio (Cogsworth), Danny Gardner (Lumiere) and Kathy Voytko as Mrs. Potts. It’s little wonder that the audience spanning generations of fans ate up every moment this show had to offer.
For many of us, this really is a tale as old as time. It’s a story some of us (myself included) have known practically since birth. That’s a lot for a production to contend with. They have to bring to life a film that many have idolized for decades. But with a bit of Disney magic, this production does so with aplomb.
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” plays through August 2 at Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 West Randolph. For tickets and showtime information, visit broadwayinchicago.com.
