THEATER REVIEW: Beauty and the Beast

(note from Wendy: Tickets available for this afternoon's matinee and tonight's final performance here.)  

Normally I am very early for a performance and thought that I would get to Bellefonte High School in plenty of time to get a good parking space. We were looking forward to seeing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and already had reserved seats. Wrong!  All parking lots were full including the overflow across the street in the commercial lots. This should have been my first clue how good this play was going to be..

The second clue was the beautiful sets on stage. I was to learn that the backdrop curtain was a rental, but everything else had been built by the large crew led by Scenic Designer Hannah Bannach and Student Master Carpenter, Andrew Uhring. The sets were beautiful, elaborate and smoothly handled by the stage crew headed by Annelise Rice.

The cast was large and so many of them need to be recognized, so please be patient.

Kaitlyn Whitesell not only looked the part of Belle, but her voice was perfect for the role. Her delight with the enchanted characters and her disgust with some of the villagers was well played. It is good to know that she is a junior and we will be seeing her again next year.

Also a junior, Zachary Spaw was her Beast. Zachary could take up this whole review. I was so impressed. Everything was right. In fact, I hope that his “If I Can’t Love Her” is Bellefonte’s featured number for the Isaacs this year. Yes, it was that good.

Cogsworth and Lumiere, played by Jack Badger and Stephen Giacobe, had several opportunities to steal the show and they did. The audience loved the ad-libbing from Jack when he had his wardrobe malfunction. He and Stephen handled it with ease. What little I heard of Stephen’s voice makes me glad that we will see more of him also.

Dori Puzycki as Babette was a delight. It would be hard to find a cuter, no, make that sexier, feather duster even in an enchanted castle. Her tango with Stephen was very,very smooth. I was glad that playing Mrs. Potts gave Alyssa Hamaty the opportunity to sing the title song. We will miss senior Alyssa next year. She has been a big part of the drama offerings at Bellefonte.

Credit goes to Nathan Smith (Chip) and Hailey Seibel (Madame de la Grande Bouche) for having to spend their time on stage in really awkward, uncomfortable costumes. Not being able to move as freely as you want makes acting difficult, yet both personalities came through.

Senior Andrew Uhring will be missed in future plays. As Belle’s father Maurice, Andrew brought his usual maturity to the role.

Gaston and Lefou also have to be treated as a couple. Tyler Rudloff and Jordan Emely played off of each other perfectly. Tyler was almost too cute to be the obnoxious Gaston. I was sort of wishing Belle would give him a chance. Jordan obviously was enjoying his role of Lefou. It gave him a chance to do some fun physical humor. I loved the harmony of their two voice at the end of the “Gaston” reprise.

Madisen Querns, Katie Pletcher and Emma Holderman as the silly girls, Gaston’s groupies, have to be mentioned. They brought a delightful touch.

Several paragraphs could be written about the choreography. The wolves and some of the individual dances were very good, but “Be Our Guest” out did everyone’s expectations. I was impressed by so many cast members on stage with an elaborate set and nobody knocked anybody or anything down. It was very well rehearsed….and the confetti was neat, unexpected, but neat.

Thank you Luke Skerpon and Jonathan Hetler, co-directors for the Bellefonte Area Senior High School Drama Department as well as Jay Zimmerman, orchestra director for a great evening. Can not wait to see what you come up with for next year! You can still get tickets for this afternoon's matinee and tonight's final performance online or at the door. Get your tickets early and arrive early!!