La bella y la bestia: una celebración número 30

I loved the animated BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 30 years ago, so I was looking forward to seeing this anniversary tribute. Sadly it was an over-produced and stuffed with performers who were not up to film and staged versions of this classic. The show had energy and point whenever Rita Moreno (the charming host), and Josh Groban (as the Beast) were around for the live, sung numbers. They were interspersed with the original animated film. H. E. R was a vocally wan Belle. Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts was the worst vocal casting as Mrs. Potts with nothing to compare to the transcendent Angela Lansbury in the film. Already well into her late 60s, Lansbury imbued the character with warmth and sang this character part with theatrical flair. Ms. Twain sounded mature and not in a good way. She's not known as an actress and it showed. Vocal energy arrived with the casting of Josh Groban as the Beast, and he was wonderful. H. E. R is probably a fine R&B artist vocally, but out of her depth in a musical. Martin Short as Lumiere and David Alan Grier as Cogsworth, showed theatrical flair. "Be Our Guest" is meant to be a showstopper, and it is a highlight of the original film. Here it was amplified so far beyond its charm as to be annoying. Simply put, this was an over-produced mess. No doubt, mine will be a minority opinion. But this is a rare instance of Disney throwing a fortune at a beloved animated movie classic. I just wish it had been better cast and produced with a little more restraint.

Can we be done with the vocal fry singing already? H. E. R. was just not right for the role. Or simply can't sing without adding the silly little frills.

Josh Groban and Joshua Henry were the highlights of the show musically. Henry was stellar in the recent Into the Woods production and continues to wow.

However, overall it was a rather disjointed mess. The back and forth between animated and live action was distracting and we didn't get nearly enough of some characters like Martin Short and David Alan Grier.

But the part that made it laugh out loud bad was the guitar solo. Whichever creative head made that decision probably shouldn't be put in charge of anything.

The parts that were live production were the best I've seen in a long while. The performances were amazing. This is why it was annoying when they would cut to the animated feature. I have mad love for the original but the back and forth just doesn't work for me. Either do a full live production or do the behind the scenes stuff and show the original movie. I feel the talent they had was wasted in the few brief performances they were given no matter how phenomenal those performances were (and they were fantastic!) Ps Rita Moreno was great with the behind the scenes into. I learned things I never knew and enjoyed that immensely!

Would you rather watch the original Disney animated classic or would you rather watch portions of it, interrupted by commercials, live action sequences that are more about new choreography than the musical performances, interspersed with brief pieces about the creation and development of the orignal, perhaps accented with pop-up ads and scrolls on the bottom of the screen?

Some of the new performers are great talents. If only their talents were showcased better...and they were not lip synching!

In recent years we have been spoiled by some incredible live re-creations of musical classics that make this production suffer in comparison.

I have enjoyed this, but I can understand why others may have not.

This is not a direct adaptation of the story as much as it is an homage to the original story and how that came to be. It is part documentary, part adaptation with mixed results.

I have found H. E. R. To be a charming Belle, Josh Groban was great as Beast (though underused), Joshua Henry was a fantastic Gaston and Rita Moreno was a delightful host. Shania Twain was not bad as Mrs. Potts, but lacked the theatricality that Angela Lansbury brought to the role. Martin short was Martin Short, meaning a joy and David Alan Grier was well cast Cogsworth.

I liked the sets they used and the costumes, though I have found the Beast to me a little more frightening than it might have been intended. The musical numbers were well done and well sang.

The different styles flow better in the beginning than they do in towards the end and I feel that for what they intended to do they showed too much of the original movie.

Is this bad? No.

Do you miss out on anything if you don't watch it? Depends on how much of a Beauty and the Beast fan you are.