Month: August 2026

There are shows out there that rapidly become retreads. You know the shows. You see them all the time. They seem to be endlessly done by regional theatres and community groups, and there always seems to be a tour of the show going somewhere. These shows are reliable money-making engines for the theatres that host them. You know them—shows such as The Music Man (soon to be at Center Theatre Group), The Sound of Music (recently at Broadway in Hollywood (BIH)), and the subject of this write-up, Beauty and the Beast, which we saw last at BIH/Hollywood Pantages).

According to my notes, we most recently saw Beauty and the Beast in an excellent production at 5-Star Theatricals in 2018, starring the original Broadway Belle, Susan Egan, in the lead. Having an older woman playing Belle instead of a 18-19 year old characterization beings whole new layers of meaning to that role, and it really changed the impression of the show for the better. I recommend folks read that writeup for some interesting observations regarding Belle and her agency, Gaston and the behavior of men (and viewing Gaston in the era of Donald Trump), and how society’s changing view of consent has changed how we see the Beast’s and Belle’s relationship. You can find the writeup here.

But that, of course, wasn’t the first time we’ve seen it. We saw the “Jr.” version in 2011 at Nobel Middle School. Although I couldn’t find the Playbill for it, I surely saw it the first time it came through Los Angeles on tour, likely at the Pantages. I’ve known and memorized the cast album. So I know the show well-enough.

So we come to the 2025-2026 Broadway in Hollywood Season, and Beauty and the Beast is the closing show. Sigh. I wasn’t that excited to see it again, but it’s been almost 10 years since the last time, so… well… OK. But this was tempered by some posts I saw on reddit, in particular this post about the cheapness of the new National Tour, and this post with worries about this new National Tour going on to Broadway.  I was curious. Was it really as bad as the redditors were saying? So after a lovely SoCalGamesDay,  we toddled over to the Pantages to see the show. My verdict? The show is not the train wreck Reddit made it out to be. In fact, the Reddit posts got many facts about this particular tour wrong (likely clouded by the nostalgia of memory). But there were some problematic aspects and changed that I didn’t particularly like, and those I’ll blame on the creatives (director, choreography, and scenic designer).

I presume that after all this time, I don’t need to give a synopsis of the show. If you really need one, toddle over to Wikipedia and you can find it. If I was to try to summarize it, bookish young woman (Belle) in 1800s village in France catches the eye of a narcissist man (Gaston) who won’t leave her alone and insists that she must marry him. She refuses, which pisses him off. Her father (Maurice) gets lost in a forest and ends up in an enchanted castle with a beast (Beast) and enchanted objects and is imprisoned. Belle takes his place, raising the hopes of the objects in the castle that the spell might be broken. Things start out rough between Belle and Beast, but some dance numbers and touching moments change the relationship. Maurice returns to the village, tells of the Beast, and Gaston tries to prove him crazy. But when Maurice shows the Beast is real, Gaston leads a mob to kill him, thinking it will win him Belle. Of course, this being Disney, Gaston falls off a parapet and dies, true love wins out in the end, and the enchantment is broken.

So what did I think of the show?

First, you must admire the marketing machine that is Disney. From a special digital photo-taking station in the lobby (at something like $40 per), to an extreme amount of merch, to special tickets that gave you more merch, to having staffers hawking all this stuff in the lobby: It is clear that Disney knows how to market and sell, sell, sell. No wonder they want this back on Broadway. Of course, the Disney FAN-atics eat it up, and combine it with the trend these days to cosplay at the theatre… it was a bit of a circus. At least folks weren’t singing along. There were loads of kids in the audience. Reasonably well behaved, and hopefully this will serve to introduce them to live theatre and get them hooked on the art form.

Next: The songs. One of the complaints in the reddit post was about the cutting of songs, in particular “Maison De Lune”, “No Matter What”, and “The Battle” (there was also a short song called “How Long Must This Go On” cut, but as it was less than a minute, no one remembers that). However, these cuts aren’t new. According to Wikipedia, «The libretto was revised by the original creative team for the 2021 UK tour. Most of the changes (except for the new reduced orchestration, which isn’t available for licensing), were added to the official licensed script in June 2021. Some of the changes include the removal of “Maison des Lunes” and “The Battle”, optional cuts to dance breaks and making “No Matter What” an optional song. The “Silly Girls” were renamed “Les Filles de la Ville”.»  As for the removal of those songs, I think there is still underscoring for “No Matter What” present, but the show can tolerate that removal (although I think the song should remain to show the depth of relationship between Belle and Maurice). “Maison De Lune” is a bigger problem; its removal creates confusion regarding the whole “lock up Maurice as insane” subplot in the second act. The asylum owner comes out of nowhere. The song is necessary to establish that subplot, so if the song is removed more book rework is required.

I’ll also note that one of the songs seemed new to me (“A Change in Me”), but it turns out that song isn’t new. It just isn’t on the cast album because it was added after the album was recorded—it was added in 1998 for Toni Braxton and has been part of the show since. It apparently is on one of Susan Egan’s albums.

Another complaint in the reddit posts was that the songs were supposedly cut to allow lengthening of the dance breaks. Although they were wrong about when and why the songs were cut, there is a dance break problem in the show. The are basically too long. It is as if the choreographer saw the success of the long dance breaks in Aladdin, and thought “Well, if it worked there…”. This is particularly noticeable in the “Gaston” number, as well as in “Be Our Guest”. Further, why oh why does every show these days need a confetti cannon? I’ve complained about this before. It adds unneeded trash to the waste stream, and does nothing to advance the plot. Further, the type of cannon used in BITB creates a massive trip hazard in the aisle.

In terms of other book changes: I could swear that there was a scenes where the household objects in the castle attacked the intruders while Gaston hunted for the Beast. But rereading Wikipedia, this also appears to have been cut as part of the 2021 UK changes. I think it is a loss. But, again, that could just be a nostalgia aspect coming into play.

The other major complaints from the reddit posts were regarding the use of projections and the simplification of costumes. These design aspects were less of a problem. Shows have increasingly moved towards projections instead of actual scenery, as they are cheaper to tour. Anastasia is one big screen. Whether the projections make it to the new rumored Broadway production is unknown. There were also complaints about the rococo used to echo the castle instead of real set pieces and flats. I can understand the economics and logistics of why this was done on tour; but I do believe that a stronger echo could have been created. It’s not that hard to have stairs and walls be created that could support the projections better.

The costumes were generally quite good, although I do seem to remember more magical objects dancing during “Be Our Guest”. But the current approach is entertaining, and I had no problem with the costume simplification. Well, except for one: I kept seeing Belle as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; perhaps this is because we saw Wizard of Oz at 5-Star theatricals quite recently. But then, I also felt echoes of Phantom of the Opera in the Beast’s scene with the fog machines at the end of Act I.

I did have some design issues with the show, however. I don’t recall Maurice’s invention being a fancy electric motorized scooter; that seems really anachronistic and takes one out of the timeline. Similarly, the large plug that Belle reinstalls during “Be Our Guest” seems wrong for an 18th Century French Castle.

The Disney magic is still there. I’m still trying to figure out the specifics of the Chip illusion (I’m thinking small kid plus mirrors), and I’ve never been able to figure out the Beast’s transformation on stage. I watched closely with binoculars. I couldn’t see it.

This brings us to the performances. At our show, we had the understudy, Melaina Rairamo, playing Belle. She was spectacular, channeling Susan Egan in her humor and voice. A real delight to watch and hear, and I hope we see her again in more shows. It was clear she was delighted to be on stage, and her joy just shone through. Fergie L. Philippe provided a strong Beast; I really enjoyed his playfullness and expression during the library scene. Stephan Mark Lukas was having fun with Gaston (although he needed more hair). Javier Ignacio made an interesting Cogsworth, but he kept making me think of John Oliver on stage.

Speaking of Gaston: It wasn’t until last night that I realized how little Gaston has to do in the second act. Once the love story starts, Gaston disappears. It’s almost as if you could remove Gaston from the story and bring in a realistic village fear about the beast and a subsequent attack, and it would work just as well (and eliminate some of the problematic aspects related to sexual power dynamics).

My only real performance complaint was with Harry Francis’ Lafou: He was far too cartoonish. This could have been the fault of the director, but in general the scenes with Lafou felt like a cartoon on stage, and it distracted from the real story. Lafou is a comic foil, but as this is a stage production there needs to be a bit more grounding in reality.

The orchestra provided great sound for such a small number of musicians.

So should you see this production of Beauty and the Beast? Is this production worth seeing? Should the tour version go to Broadway?

Three distinctly different questions. We’ll start with the middle: Is this production worth seeing? That depends on whether you want to line the pocketbooks of the Disney machine. There will be good regional productions that will be less expensive, and aren’t money grabs. Should you see this production? A touring version hasn’t come around in quite a few years, so if you want to see an Equity cast doing the show with the real Disney magic, it is worth it (but you don’t need center Orchestra; we do side Orchestra and we’re just fine).

Should this version go to Broadway? That’s a different question. The cast certainly should. Malania Rairamo certainly deserves the exposure and the stepping stone it would provide to a larger career on stage and in concerts. I think they should consider revising the book again to tone down the dance numbers a little, de-cartoon Lafou, and bring back “Maison De Lune”. Oh, and get rid of the confetti canon.

Beauty and the Beast continues at BIH/Hollywood Pantages through September 6, 2026. More information on the show is here, and visit this link for tickets.

Credits

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Music by Alan Menkin. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. Directed and choreographed by Matt West.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Angela Lansbury Prologue Narrator Voice; Kyra Belle Johnson Melaina Rairamo Belle; Fergie L. Philippe Beast; Stephan Mark Lukas Gaston; Danny Gardner Lumiere; Christina Rose Hall Mrs. Potts; Javier Ignacio Cogsworth; Harry Francis Lefou; Aaron Kaburick Maurice; Holly Ann Butler Madame; Cameron Monroe Thomas Babette; Beatrice Goddard Beggs | Levi Blaise Coleman | Kanoa Edgar Chip. Ensemble: Benjamin Cheno, Spencer Dean Monsieur D’Arque, Julian Marcus DeGuzman, Michael Dikegoros, Masumi Iwai, Darrell T. Joe, Emily Larger Asst Dance Captain, Melaina Rairamo ↑ Lena Matthews Village Lass, Grace Marie Rusnice, Ben Sears Bookseller, Jasmine Pearl Villaroel Village Lass, Kate Wesler Enchantress, Village Lass. Swings: Vinny Andaloro, Leigh Ann Esty, ↑ Lena Matthews, Caleb McArthur, Ellen Roberts, Michael Seltzer Dance Captain, Fight Captain. Vacation Standby: Devin Archer Beast/Gaston. Vacation Swings: Brianna Ascione, Kristen Smith Davis, Matthew Marvin, Carson Hampton Palmer.

Music Department (🌴 indicates local): Michael Kosarin Music Supervision and Arrangements; Danny Troob Orchestrator; David Chase Dance Music Arrangements; Christoph Buskies Electronic Music Programming; Michael Aarons (M-Squared Music) Music Coordinator; David Andrew Rogers Music Director, Conductor; Connor Doran and Michael Hopewell Assoc. Conductors, Keyboards;  🌴 Jen Choi Fischer Violin; Dane Andersen Flute / Piccolo / Alto Flute; 🌴 Sean Franz Clarinet / Flute / Bass Clarinet; 🌴 Aaron Smith Trumpet / Flugelhorn / Piccolo Trumpet; 🌴 Emily Pesavento French Horn; 🌴 Nick Daley Trombone / Bass Trombone; Gary Seligson Drums / Percussion; Sam Groisser Music Associate / Keyboard Swing; Anja Wood (M-Squared Music) Assoc Music Coordinator; Anixter Rice Music Services Music Preparation; 🌴 Eric Heinly Local Music Contractor.

Production and Creative: Linda Woolverton Book; Alan Menken Composer; Howard Ashman Lyrics; Tim Rice Lyrics; Matt West Director, Choreographer; Stanley A. Meyer Scenic Design; Ann Hould-Ward Costume Design; Natasha Katz Lighting Design; John Shivers Sound Design; Rob Roth Production Conception; Darrel Maloney Video & Projection Design; David H. Lawrence Hair & Make-Up Design; Jim Steinmeyer Illusion Design; Lorenzo Pisoni Movement Coordinator; Sam Scalamoni Assoc Director; Steve Bebout Supervising Resident Director; Jenn Rias Assoc Choreographer; Erin N. Moore Assoc Choreographer; The TRC Company Casting; Neuro Tour Physical Therapy; Jason Trubitt Production Supervisor; Andrew Bacigalupo Production Stage Manager; Malashia Carter Asst Stage Manager; Kelley Lynne Moncrief Asst Stage Manager.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key: 🎭 Theatre / 🎼 Music /  Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (🎫 indicates ticketing is pending).

• September: 🎭 Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Sutton Foster at The Soraya; 🎭 The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎭Every Brilliant Thing at The Main;  🎭🎫 Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; 
• October: 🎭 The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages; 🎼 Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya; 🎭 Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals; 🎼 Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya; 🎭 The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.
• November: 🎭 Passing Strange at Pasadena Playhouse; 🎭 Oh Mary at CTG/Ahmanson;  Dance Theatre of Harlem at The Soraya; 🎭 Road Show at Chromolume Theatre; 🎭 Destiny of Desire at CTG/Taper.
• December: 🎭 Candide at LA Opera; 🎼🎫 Go Jazz at The Main (Tent. Date); 🎭🎫 Big Fish at Conundrum; 🎼 Spanish Harlem Orchestra at The Soraya; 🎭 Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at CTG/Ahmanson.