A few months back, I went to watch Disney India’s Beauty and the Beast. It was a huge hit last year when it came to India for the first time, and so they brought it back this year as well.
The tickets ranged from Rs.1500 – 7000, which quite frankly, I thought was a little too much for 2.5 hours of entertainment. I feel like Disney plays should be for everyone, but if you’re going to price the tickets that high, people won’t be able to afford them. And sure enough, the theatre was not completely full, there were entire blocks of seats vacant. But surprisingly, the vacant seats are the less expensive ones. So maybe it’s just me.
The set was incredible, in case you can’t already tell from the trailer above. So were the costumes. The acting and the singing and dancing was really good. I especially loved the acting of Lumière, the candelabra. The story is the same as the Disney movie released years ago (I haven’t watched it, but I know the story) and not the original Beauty and the Beast story. Nothing new there. I think some, if not all, of the songs were taken from the movie too. Talking about the songs. This is the first real play / musical I’ve watched (not counting all the high school annual day shows we had to put up every year). I expected to be wowed. But, the songs – the life of any musical – were really disappointing. The sound wasn’t clear enough during the singing and I couldn’t make out the words. There was so much of dancing happening on the stage which was overwhelming and not in a good way. The song “Be Our Guest” went on and on, and frankly, I was bored. The chemistry between Belle and Beast – I didn’t see it. It appeared like insta-love; highly unbelievable. One minute she’s terrified of him, the next she’s on a balcony sharing a special moment with him. No. Just no. All the background work was amazing, but there was not enough magic in the delivery.
Rating: 7/10
My all time favourite song (I have it memorized and never grow tired of it. Amy Adams’ acting was amazing) from a musical movie:
Sapphires & Stars 