Opinion on Beauty and the Beast- Live on Stage?

Professor_Jason

Professor_Jason

Active Member
I love Beauty and the Beast it's still my favorite Disney movie but I'm all for letting this show from 1991 go, especially since the film is long past due for a ride
 
JS514

JS514

Well-Known Member
We last saw it in May, and it was pretty bad then. Gaston's singing was horrible. My wife LOVES BatB. Favorite movie, music, everything. Has watched that movie at least 150 times. But she also hates the show. We always go see it anyway...hoping it is better. Never is.
 
KBLovedDisney

KBLovedDisney

Well-Known Member
Saw it for the first time this past May...eh. That was the first and last time. My home town school did a better job honestly...(sorry Disney).
 
LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
thomas998 said:
The reality is doing a good show like this is expensive and requires a substantial commitment of time and money... Walt Disney World has shown they are not willing to do that for this type of experience when they gave us "Frozen Ever After"... they capitalized on the Frozen train but unfortunately proved that they simply wanted to extract maximum draw from the content while spending as little as possible.

While Beauty and the Beast is bad, it is still light years ahead of the more recent things like "Frozen Ever After"... Frankly it is a shame they never put on the same quality shows at WDW that they do on the west coast at California Adventure. Aladdin was a good show and it would have been nice if they had moved it to WDW after they closed last year....

And as much as I hate "Frozen Ever After" I don't think the Disney stage version of Frozen is very good at all. If you ever make it out to Anaheim you can see it at California Adventure and it is bad... Not that the show wasn't well written, but the simple fact is a show like Frozen isn't really feasible because of the kids parts in it. In the stage version they have adults running around acting like kids which really just comes across as lame... but probably the only option they have given that if it were done with real kids in the rolls the labor laws for child performers in California would likely result in having either a very limited number of shows per day or required a huge increase in the number of kids hired to do the parts.... In the end some shows just don't make a good transition to stage - Frozen is one of them.
Click to expand...

Aladdin at DCA was an impressive performance. While not Broadway level, it was as good as some of our productions in college. It's not easy rigging and flying a platform with 2 actors on it over the house.
 
Lora Baines Bradley

Lora Baines Bradley

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
JS514 said:
We last saw it in May, and it was pretty bad then. Gaston's singing was horrible. My wife LOVES BatB. Favorite movie, music, everything. Has watched that movie at least 150 times. But she also hates the show. We always go see it anyway...hoping it is better. Never is.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I love both films, but the stage show doesn't do it justice.
 
Lora Baines Bradley

Lora Baines Bradley

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
tractor tipper said:
In 2000 saw BatB, during the scene where the village is getting ready to fight the beast the villagers had wooden pitchforks for props.
One got to close to Gaston and took his wig off with the pitchfork, next day they had brooms.
Click to expand...

That's hilarious! If only the internet was as proliferous then as it is now, we would likely have it on video...:p
 
Lora Baines Bradley

Lora Baines Bradley

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
KBLovesDisney said:
Saw it for the first time this past May...eh. That was the first and last time. My home town school did a better job honestly...(sorry Disney).
Click to expand...

Honestly it seems nowadays certain schools can pull off amazing performances. I've never seen a broadway play, so I wouldn't be quick to put them on that pedestal. However, it does seem to have a level of passion for the art that these shows lack. Not saying that the paid performers don't have passion for the art, just that when you volunteer your free time for months on end with the only reward being to have a part in the play, you have a high degree of devotion.
 
Last edited:
MaryJaneP

MaryJaneP

Well-Known Member
Even if the primary purpose of the theater is to stage a show, and we enjoy the BATB performances, the many times we have seen them over the years, it is amazing that many miss the nearly equal use of the theater as a shaded sitting location that eats huge numbers of guests, despite the fact that it is open air and guests come and go during a performance. As such, we find it somewhat reminiscent that it still is, and we hope it always will be, BATB on stage.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
I think your opinion of the show depends upon your experience with other stage productions. If you're someone who has seen Broadway or touring versions of NYC shows, than you know that BatB at DHS comes up short. The same is probably true if you've been on Disney's cruise ships or have seen Aladdin/Frozen at DCA, Mickey & the Magician at DLP or Lion King & Nemo at AK.

The simple truth is that Disney can and has done better, and this particular show should have been retired years ago. If nothing else, they could borrow elements from the new BatB show coming to Disney Cruise Line, or extend the run of the new Pixar live performance.
 
Kate F

Kate F

Well-Known Member
It's just ok. It's a good way to fill up some time, but it's nothing you really need to see more than once and after 26 years, it seriously needs to be replaced (not right now of course).
 
KBLovedDisney

KBLovedDisney

Well-Known Member
jyn erso said:
Honestly it seems nowadays certain schools can pull off amazing performances. I've never seen a broadway play, so I wouldn't be quick to put them on that pedestal. However, it does seem to have a level of passion for the art that these shows lack. Not saying that the paid performers don't have passion for the art, just that when you volunteer your free time for months on end with the only reward being to have a part in the play, you have a high degree of devotion.
Click to expand...
I think the stage show just looks....tired (if that makes sense).
 
DisneyManOne

DisneyManOne

Well-Known Member
This may be a little off-topic, but I found this video that may be apropos to this situation. It's a video of a guy named Dave, a guy who reviews things on his channel "Doggans". As part of a large retrospective offering his thoughts on WDW, he performed a full MST3K-style riff on Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage. Check it out.

 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom