Beauty and the Beast on Broadway

[dolphins_log]

Juli and I joined genebreshears and miertam last night to attend the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. Juli and I had seen it before at the 5th Avenue.

I had two distinctly different evenings. One was pleasurable and the other was disagreeable. Because they war with each other I'll have to introduce a second persona, my inner Beast. Beast emerged some years ago when I caught someone breaking a rose off of my rose bush in Indianola. And I'll let the Buddy, the guy who tries to be nice about everything, join us as well.



Buddy: We had a great time. Even though Juli and I have seen the show before, there were subtle differences. That made it all worth while.

Beast: >Snort< The seats were cramped enough where even Juli couldn't cross her legs, and she's 5'1". What kind of way is that to treat a lady? And the stage was ridiculously small, only half the size of the 5th Avenue. We couldn't see anything.

Buddy: We saw fine. Because the stage was smaller there were subtle differences in the performance. It made it new and refreshing.

Beast: I liked the thunder and flashes, but the family behind us were insufferable.

Buddy: Well..

Beast: And the child. [whiny voice] "I don't like the beast. I don't like the beast."

Buddy: He was frightened.

Beast: And every time they changed scene this insufferable child would ask where the previous characters went. [Whiny voice] "Where's the Beast? Where's Belle? Where's Gaston? Where did the Beast go?Where's the Castle?" [/whiny voice] He for asking for the previous set, for God's sake!

Buddy: He was only three.

Beast: And his parents? His mother had the unmitigated gual to lean forward, grab Juli and my shoulder, and ask us to go to other seats. Imagine!

Buddy: Well you kept turning around every time the child spoke.

Beast: Not every time.

Buddy: Most of the time.

Beast: I was hoping his mother would get the point. And she kept muttering at us through the performance. About how he was three and we could either move or keep looking at him. Finally she stopped.

Buddy: After you flapped your program at her.

Beast: Aaagh!

Buddy: Look, the child was only three. kehf's son Valentine is three.

Beast: That's different. He's cute!

Buddy: Wasn't it cute when this little child started singing along with the "Gaston" song?

Beast: ...well...

Buddy: Wasn't it?

Beast: [mutters] ...okay, it was cute... [loud] But his mother was out of line!

Buddy: That's probably true, they should have thought twice before bringing the child to a Broadway show.

Beast: HA! See? And what she said to us was uncalled for!

Buddy: Calm down. It was a natural mistake. It's Beauty and the Beast after all. How would the child have known the song if he hadn't seen the video umpteen tillion times? There were quite a few children there.

Beast: They should ALL have been dragged out of...

Buddy: Now now! Most of them were enthralled by the performance, and sat quietly through the entire show. They enjoyed it as much as you did.

Beast: [grumble]

Buddy: Besides, the child behind us fell asleep and the family left before intermission.

Beast: [grumble]

Buddy: And you felt bad. You felt you were partially responsible.

Beast: [quiet grumbe, sigh] I... I guess I'm just an old fart.

Buddy: Now don't go beating yourself up. It was a bad scene all around.

Beast: Ah! Then I have a right to be angry!

Buddy: Just let it go. You enjoyed the show, right?

Beast: ...

Buddy: Riiight?

Beast: [small voice] Yeah, I enjoyed the show.

Buddy: And the company? You enjoyed being out with your wife and friends?

Beast: Yeah...

Buddy: See?

Beast: [pause] Juli looked beautiful in her purple dress.

Buddy: Uh huh. She did.

Beast: And genebreshears looked sharp in his gray silk shirt and suit.

Buddy: Yes, he did.

Beast: And there were lots of flashes and explosions and the Beast's curse was broken and they all lived happily ever after!

Buddy: It was a great show.

Beast: With twinkling lights and smoke and cheesecake!

Buddy: Cheese-?

Beast: We had cheesecake afterward. Key Lime cheese cake!

Buddy: Yes...

Beast: And they had Dutch apple and German chocolate I think. And then you drove home. You wouldn't let me drive.

Buddy: Well yes. Do you think I'm going to let you drive all the way to Tacoma and back up home? Not with Juli in the car, I'm not. You're scary.

Comments

Entertaining Review

[conifur.livejournal.com]

I like your approach to reviewing the evening. I just returned from watching Beauty And The Beast myself. Normally I like plays better than movies, but I liked this movie better than the play. The play felt overdone, going for more animated than the movie, rather than trying for elegance, like I had hoped.

But at least I had no annoying children or parents to overhear.