Review: Cast Brings Character To Wagon Wheel's 'Beauty & The Beast'
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Paraphrasing Cogsworth in Disney’s “Beauty & The Beast,” if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ production of the musical doesn’t try to change the show or the original animated movie on which it’s based, so the end result is everything you’d expect and hope to see live on stage. Then you have some of the actors who turned their performance up a notch opening night Wednesday, giving you a little more than one might expect and making the approximate 2-1/2-hour show even better. Take, for example, Barrett Riggins who plays LeFou. LeFou is the sidekick of the main villain Gaston (Charlie Patterson). Whenever Gaston wants to beat, bite or kick someone, he uses LeFou. And LeFou is either mancrushing hard on Gaston or just can’t see Gaston’s behavior as physical abuse. Riggins brings LeFou to life like Daffy Duck in the old Warner Brothers cartoons. He’s very animated and lively and keeps coming back for more. Certainly, Artistic Director Scott Michaels gave Riggins an idea or direction as to what he wanted to see on stage, but every time LeFou gets punched, it is Riggins who makes the moment funny. I personally couldn’t help but think of Daffy Duck when LeFou took a shot, thanks to Riggins. Since I mentioned Gaston, Patterson is making his Wagon Wheel debut in the role and it’s solid. Gaston is more of a beast of than The Beast – he’s egotistical, overly self-confident and a few other choice words not printable here. Watching Patterson bring the role to life immaculately, I was impressed and happy from beginning to end with the performance. His Gaston reminded me of some guys who go to the gym just to look at themselves in the mirror after pumping some iron. Of course, this show is “Beauty & The Beast,” not “LeFou & Gaston,” and the young actors taking on the roles of Belle and The Beast are like the animation came alive in the third dimensional world. Elaine Cotter – a beauty playing Beauty – is back at the Wagon Wheel for her second year and audiences will be happy with her performance. She, like everyone in this ensemble, can belt out a number like she owns it. She can act and dance, too, making herself a lethal force on the musical stage. My favorite song of Belle’s that Cotter sings is “A Change In Me.” By the end of the number, Cotter makes her audience smile. The last time the Wagon Wheel did a production of Disney’s retelling of this story was about a dozen years ago with Rod Thomas as The Beast. I was there then, too, but Joey Birchler in this production easily makes it his own so I didn’t find myself thinking about Thomas’s performance. Birchler walked the walk and talked the talk of The Beast so that you didn’t care that he wasn’t 10 feet tall and didn’t have a long yellow snout – he was menacing in his own right. The Beast gets two solo numbers in this musical, but my personal preference is for “How Long Must This Go On.” Birchler brings a longing to the song that should make the audience feel a sadness for the cursed fellow. When The Beast was cursed by the sorceress years ago for not being a gentleman, she also cursed everyone in the house at the time, too. While the young prince became a monster, the servants and guests all became furniture and dishes that spoke and moved about. It is those who were cursed along with the Beast that really bring a joy to the story that otherwise could be very dark. The story takes place in a small French town, and bringing the best Frenchy flavor to Wagon Wheel’s production is Keaton Eckhoff as Lumiere the candlestick and Lexi Carter as Babette the feather duster. On stage, Eckhoff and Carter have such amazing chemistry that it’s fun just watching them interact like lovers, sometimes bickering lovers. Eckhoff provides these looks, movements, gestures that just grab your attention and you have to watch him. He also didn’t lose his accent last night where others slipped in and out of it. When Carter sashays onto the stage, it feels like the beginning of a sexy burlesque show. She might have been turned into a feather duster, but there is no doubt that with the way Carter plays her, she was a very good French maid beforehand. And let me repeat myself – I thoroughly enjoyed both Eckhoff and Carter on stage whenever they were solo or with other actors, but loved them more together on stage in their respective roles. Mrs. Potts, played in this production by Lottie Prenevost, gets to sing “Beauty and the Beast,” which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It’s a timeless and memorable song that’s still stuck in my head over 90 minutes after the show ended. And Prenevost not only does beautifully well with the song, but she’s also a great Mrs. Potts. If you can’t have Angela Lansbury (who did the original voice in the 1991 Disney animated movie), then Prenevost will more than do. I can’t wait to see her in more performances, sing more songs and show her amazing vocal gift this summer season. Finally, I have to point out Kira Lace Hawkins as Madame De La Grande Bouche, originally known as the Wardrobe in the film version. I like the long name better. Anyway, the Wardrobe was formerly an opera singer before falling under the curse with the Beast and everyone else. So in this production when Madame has to hit those notes, who else but Hawkins could do it justice? Obviously, there are some strong female voices in this show who could probably get there, too, but Hawkins is a perfect casting for the role. Any opportunity the Wagon Wheel gets to cast Hawkins, it should do it – she doesn’t disappoint. And any chance the audience gets to listen to her, they should do it. The costumes by Stephen R. Hollenbeck and his crew live up to the film version as well. The wolves were a little more like werewolves or monkey dogs, but otherwise an “A” job for all the hard work. Overall, the Wagon Wheel’s production of Disney’s “Beauty & The Beast” doesn’t stray from the source material so there’s no surprises, but the actors don’t have a problem meeting expectations for one of the most beloved Disney animated films of all times. There were some technical issues I noticed Wednesday night, but the actors carried on and gave it their best. A few children under the age of 10 sitting around me got restless toward the end of Act II, but they survived. For the first show of the 2016 season, I think the cast should be proud of themselves for a job well done. My rating of the show (out of four): 3.50. “Beauty & The Beast” is at the Wagon Wheel through June 11. Tickets are $36 for adults, $16 for children 12 and under, $20 for students 13 through college and $28 for seniors. Tickets can be purchased online at www.wagonwheelcenter.org, over the phone at 574-267-8041, and in person at the theatre. The box office is open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday 1 a.m. to 2 p.m. Summer hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
