As the weather began to warm up this year, so did the vocals of this year’s cast for PV’s Spring musical, Beauty and the Beast. On Friday, I went to see the opening night of this wonderful performance, and gave it my review based on a set of criteria and rankings put together into a final star rating from 1-10. Without further ado, here is the spring Showstopper broken down!
Acting and Dance
The acting in Beauty and the Beast was as good as always, with no noticeably forgotten lines on the night I went, and the dancing was also incredibly enjoyable, so entertaining that everyone in the audience began to clap along with it, myself included. Because of the enthralling experience, I give the acting and dancing category a 10/10 rating.
Lighting and Audio
Going into Beauty and the Beast, I had high hopes that some of the issues previously ran into during The Count of Monte Cristo, such as the wrong sound effects being played or entire screen backgrounds not working at all, would be avoided, and for the most part these hopes were met. Although the screen worked the whole play without issues, and the spotlight worked fine, there was an instance where the pre-show announcement was played a second time on accident after the play had already started, and two other instances that I could notice of microphones not working. However, when taken into account with the fact that the lighting crew successfully used a new kind of light projector which made different shapes, such as roses or stained glass, onto the walls of the CFA, something which I’ve never seen before, I give this category a 9/10, because although there were some issues, it didn’t take away much from the enjoyability of the play.
Hair and Makeup
Much of the hair and makeup in this show was spectacular. Not only was there a variety of fun and interesting looks for characters like Mrs. Potts, Chip, and the Wardrobe, who all had beautiful floral and butterfly-inspired eyeshadow, but the makeup team also did an amazing job of making actors convincing in their role, like how Atticus Rider went from being a simple villager to a menacing Monsieur D’arque with the help of an incredibly talented makeup crew. All in all, I give hair and makeup a 10/10.
Vocals You can tell how passionate PV’s actors are when you listen to them sing. Whether it’s Grease or Beauty and the Beast, you can guarantee you’ll be going home humming your favorite tune of the
show! And the performances given by Colin and Chora, playing the Beast and the Beauty of the show, stunned me and many others in the audience with their impressive belting and ability to carry us away with their song, leaving me thinking “I never knew they could sing like that.” The cast also managed to blow me away with how well they could sing together as a group, especially in songs like “Be Our Guest” and the “Mob Song”. Keeping this in mind, I give the Singing category another 10/10.
Costume, Props, and Set Design
In many regards, the costuming of Beauty and the Beast was beautiful: for example, the outfits of Cogsworth and Lumière were intricately detailed and visibly high-quality, making them visually intriguing and immersive. However, not every costume was perfect; for example, Belle’s final dress seemed to have needed to be pinned up due to her height, yet a pin had failed and left one part of the dress sagging down. Other outfits seemed noticeably plain compared to the main cast, like the unremarkable gray clothes and single mask of the Gargoyle. However, it’s also important to remember that stagecraft was doing the best with what they could, given the fact that some costumes were pre-made for the play, and others had to be made or fixed on the spot. Simultaneously, although some props, like Maurice’s vehicle which was a fully functioning and rideable prop, served as a good example of a prop that had effort and care put into it, there were also a variety of minor prop malfunctions, like books falling off of a cart, one of the ensemble having their ribbon wand falling apart in their hands, and Belle having to show the audience her hand instead of a mirror. Because of this, I give the costumes, prop, and set design category a 7/10, with room for improvement!
The Final Score
In total, Beauty and the Beast earns a score of 9.2/10! Overall, it was an amazing play, and although it had small issues here and there, there’s no denying it was an amazing musical that much of the cast is glad to have finally finished, serving as a beautiful “final play” for many seniors at PV, and was something that couldn’t have been done without the love and hard work put in by our actors, tech crew, and everyone involved with bringing this play to life.
