Published: August 15, 2008 09:07 am      

THEATER REVIEW: Artpark's 'Beast' good, despite minor hang-ups

Artpark’s staging of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” featured professional-quality performers, pleasant sets and a surprising number of laughs.

But it was not quite great.

Carolann Sanita definitely has the look and voice to pull off her portrayal of Belle ... but her singing sometimes got lost on the expansive stage.

Glenn Lawrence was more than adequately smarmy as Belle’s would-be lover Gaston ... but his delivery sometimes sounded like mud as the orchestra overpowered him.

Some of the set pieces and design elements were creative ... but the production loses points for several small technological glitches.

So it went at Thursday’s opening night, performed before a house that was packed save for a few dozen seats on either side of the Lewiston venue.

The stage show, adapted from the Disney animated movie, redelivers the old message of looking at a person’s inner good rather than judging by appearances.

It follows Belle as she meets the Beast — a vain man who had a curse put upon him and the residents of his castle — after her father wanders to his homestead. At first turned off by his gruff exterior, she grows to find kindness in heart — which drives Gaston to extreme lengths to force her affection to be showered upon him.

Sanita did a great job of conveying Belle as the outsider she is. A female reader in a time when women were expected to focus on the homestead, she shares the exploratory nature of her inventor father, and Sanita was quite good at getting that across — including her facial expressions, some of which had to be held for five minutes or more during extended dance numbers.

Michael Hunsaker as the Beast was at his best in delivering the out-of-character dialogue, drawing several laughs in scenes when the Beast makes an effort to act gentlemanly — or at least sit on the chair as opposed to stand on it. His singing voice was powerful at points, but he was hard to hear at times when the ensemble sang behind him.

Several other lead singers were drowned out throughout the night, perhaps due to a combination of an oversized stage and poor acoustics in the theater, which had a curtain drawn across the opening in back. This wasn’t enough to ruin the night, but it was noticeable.

Yes, the “don’t judge a book by its cover” story has been told about a million times. But Artpark officials clearly put their best effort in to make memorable this retelling of the tale as old a time. All in all, they did a good job ... but it could have been a bit better.

Contact editor Paul Laneat 693-1000, ext. 116.



IF YOU GO

• WHAT: “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”

• WHEN: Ten more performances through Aug. 24

• WHERE: Artpark, 450 S. Fourth St., Lewiston

• MORE INFORMATION: Call 754-4375 or visit artpark.net

• GRADE: B