The musical Beauty and the Beast is like the weather in Arkansas -- if you don't like what's going on, wait a few minutes and everything will change.
The show, which opened Tuesday at Robinson Center Music Hall for a four-performance run, changes its tone from scene to scene with lightning speed. One moment it's boisterous, then onimous, suddenly funny, switching to downright goofy, then surreal -- a zig-zagging take on "something for everyone."
Beauty and the Beast, based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, is an imaginative tale of bookish village beauty Belle (portrayed with spirit by Emily Behny), who's bored with provincial life and plagued by the unwanted romantic pursuit of buffoonish can't-take-no-for-an-answer Gaston (Logan Denninghoff).
When her daffy dad Maurice (Christopher Spencer) wanders into the woods and seeks refuge from wolves (wonderfully rendered as puppets), he falls into the clutches of the Beast (Dane Agostinis), a prince trapped in an enchantress' spell -- as are his devoted servants, who are gradually transforming into inanimate objects such as a teapot, a clock, an armoire, a feather duster and a candelabra.
o rescue her father, Belle trades her freedom for his. What she doesn't know is that if the ill-tempered and unmannerly Beast -- bitter and angry about his fate -- can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed back to his former former self -- but time is running out.
The show, which features a magical movable set, a wacky dance number performed by silverware with legs and amazing acrobatics by Gaston's servant Lefou (Andrew Kruep), continues at 7:30 p.m. today (May 25) and 1 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday (May 26) at Robinson Center Music Hall, Markham and Broadway, Little Rock. Tickets are $17, $27, $37, $47 and $57. To purchase call Celebrity Attractions at (501) 244-8800 or click here.
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