“Be our guest, be our guest!” Make sure you snag a ticket to see FSU’s School of Theatre’s performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Fallon Theatre before it’s gone! It’s a “tale as old as time,” and the School of Theatre’s cast told it most eloquently on their opening night this past Thursday.
As the story goes, a young French maiden named Belle (played by freshman Katerina McCrimmon) takes the place of her ill and elderly father to be the prisoner of the Beast (played by junior Ian Bossung); a misunderstood prince who is confined inside of the body of a monster under an enchantress’s magic spell. With a little push from all your favorite characters, including Chip, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Featherduster, Cogsworth and many others, Belle soon sees the good within the short-tempered Beast. In turn, the Beast finds his courage to love Belle and himself despite his past wrong-doings, but not without a bit of trouble along the way (I’m talking about you, Gaston). In addition to the personified palace furniture, the Disney villain we love to hate was also in attendance; Gaston (played by senior Britt Hollingsworth), in all his brute superiority and arrogant flair, proved to be a tough roadblock for all the characters. Despite Gaston’s greatest (and most selfish) efforts, the good guys came out on top! The curse was broken in triumph while the Beauty, the Beast (whom appeared not to be so beastly after all) and the once again human castle servants lived happily ever after!
The performance was surely, as Belle might say, one for the books! There were incredible costumes that embodied each of Disney’s characters to a “T” – especially Belle’s iconic golden ball gown, which certainly made the entire audience envious. Each musical number exceeded the previous with spectacular dance routines and stellar singing performances from the entire cast. My personal favorite was the cast’s explosive performance of the classic “Be Our Guest” in which they pulled out all the stops with dancing plates, forks, spoons, knives and even napkins! All of which concluded with confetti casually falling from the sky, “Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!”
I was thrown into fits of laughter by the bright and ever-charming Lumiere, I reminisced of my childhood with the wide-eyed hopeful innocence of Chip, thrust into the depths of despair by the Beast’s passionate yet melancholy soliloquies and brought back in time as if I was a part of one of Belle’s beloved books! If you’re searching for something to do between February 16 to 26, or if you’re just a Disney fan, you simply must see this show; it doesn’t disappoint!
Dates and Times:
Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m.*
Friday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.
You can purchase tickets online here! (*Note: all shows are SOLD OUT except for the performance on Feb. 23).