Beauty and the Beast recently opened at the North Shore Music Theatre to a packed house

Beauty and the Beast recently opened at the North Shore Music Theatre to a packed house! Now there has not been much speculation as to how this production would fair. It was suspected that it would be very successful due to the recent release of the live-action version by the same title and it seems to be shaping up to do just that.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are going into this expecting to see a hollywood style production you are going to be sorely disappointed however if you are willing to keep an open mind and allow for some artistic interpretation I think you will be quiet pleased. I must say that for the most part I was very impressed by the production as a whole from the cast to the wardrobe it was all very well thought out.

The cast had some very good and for the most part very solid choices.While I won’t touch on all of the cast members there were a few that did stand out in my mind for various reasons. Rose Hemingway played Belle. While Rose’s voice was good and that is nothing short of the truth I cannot say that I was blown away by her performance. I felt as if (every time I heard her sing)that I was left waiting for something more something to move me something to wow me.

Steven Cerf played that Beast and boy can that man sing! He was recently in the Broadway/Tours The Jersey Boys and I have to say I LOVED his voice. There was so much power and command when he sang that it made me shiver in the best way possible.

David Coffee played Maurice and I just love whenever this man comes to the stage. You can see the passion and the joy that he has for what he does. He just looks like he is having a good old time. His voice fit what I had in mind for this character (barring any preconceived notions) from the nationally recognized voices/actors that were chosen for the roles in both productions (both animated and live action.)

I just adored who they chose to play the role of Gaston. Oh my, my, my was he the perfect choice for this role. What can I say about Taylor Crousore? His voice had a commanding presence about it. Not only did he look like he was having a grand old time on stage but to me he was Gaston and there were no ifs ands or buts about it. I honestly can’t say much more about it because for me between the actor and the character he was chosen to play the two well they just worked together.

Lumiere, Lumiere, Lumiere! Oh my how I loved this character! They chose Benjmin Howes to played this character and I was nothing short of in love with him and how he portrayed his character from the moment he stepped on stage. I was truly blown away by his vocal talent and just his ability to truly step into the “shoes” of a character and really become the part. It certainly doesn’t hurt that I could listen to him song all night long!

Lastly They had many things down pat that I was not expecting when tt came to set production and costume design. I could go on and on about the wonderful actors and set design that they had in this production but I don’t want to get into all of the details simply because you really should see it for yourself I think that you will leave there feeling like you were part of a wonderful journey to a far off place.

The show runs now thru July 29th, 2017 and tickets can be purchased at the NSMT.org or by visiting the Box Office.

Written By: Nicole Lynne Wood
Wood Media Staff Writer/Editor