We were transported back to the 1991 Golden Globe-winning film Beauty And The Beast at San Jose Performing Arts Center on Wed 9/8/26. Families of all ages attended that evening. Kids dressed up as their favorite princesses, but Kyra Belle Johnson, aka “Belle,” was the Disney princess of the night & was destined for that lead. Kyra made us fall in love again with our intellectual bookworm Belle. She brought out Belle’s poise & courage to life. No wonder Gaston (played by understudy Caleb McArthur) was smitten.
Photo by Matthew Murphy. © Disney
The Broadway production stayed true to the beloved animation, even adding two new songs: “Home” & “If I Can’t Love Her.” The musical numbers helped move the story along especially in Act 2. The audience were engaged & hummed from their seats. Also, the comedic relief from Lefou (Harry Francis), Lumiere (Danny Gardner), Cogsworth (Javier Ignacio), & Mrs. Potts (Christina Rose Hall) made it more enjoyable. The dancing was another highlight. The choreography added energy to the performance, especially during “Be Our Guest”. It looked like a complete burlesque show you would see in Vegas.
The costumes were probably one of my favorite visual aspects of the Broadway, designed by Ann Hould-Ward. The outfits helped show the characters’ personalities & made the story feel more enchanted, as well as the make-up/hair done by David H. Lawrence. The colorful costumes and detailed designs added excitement to the stage and made the production feel like the fairy tale it was meant to be. Everyone was enamored by Belle’s iconic yellow dress. Let’s not forget the live orchestra conducted by David Andrews Rogers! If not for them, the musical wouldn’t have been so lively & whimsical. It’s so fascinating how the music can cue a whole scene along with the sound design developed by John Shivers.
Photo by Matthew Murphy. © Disney
A fond moment of the play was when Belle would read the book King Arthur to the Beast (Devin Archer) in the library. It showed the growing chemistry between them. Then there were peculiar moments too. For instance, I couldn’t wrap my head around how Chip’s (Kanoa Edgar) head was on the cart, but I couldn’t see the rest of his body. Or how the Beast was lifted up mid-air when he transformed back to a human but nothing was holding him up? Props to the illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer for having me be fooled by the Disney magic.
If I were to have creative freedom, I would’ve killed off Gaston in a different way. Instead of him falling to his death, I would’ve had him been struck by lightening since during the fight with the Beast & Gaston–- the projection/video designer Darrel Maloney created a gruesome storm. However, I’m not the director, but Matt West is who was involved in the original 1994 Beauty And The Beast Broadway.
Overall, the production was visually stunning and the acting mirrored the movie. As the late Angela Lansbury sang “Tale as old as time,” Beauty And The Beast will always remain a timeless classic.
–Jisselle Fernandez
