Fri Feb 10 2012
Departments
Reviews

This 'Beast' is gorgeous
by Harvey Wasserman
March 11, 2004

Gorgeous.  That's all that need be said about Ballet Met's sweet "Beauty and the Beast," which just opened Thursday night at the Ohio Theater, and which will play through Sunday, March 14.  

The music is lovely, the dancing divine, the costumes breathtaking, the sets entrancing. David Nixon's choreography and concept both work admirably well.   The lead performances by Carrie West and Richard Tullius were also fine, as were the efforts of the rest of the cast and the orchestra.  It's a piece that rises or falls on its grace and emotional pull, and in its opening night, the whole thing worked.


That goes for my four-year-old Shoshanna as well.   After restraining her from rushing the stage (she doesn't yet understand the differential between performers and spectators), we retreated to a corner of the balcony, where she could dance in peace.  Many of the wonderful classic tunes she recognized from Disney's Fantasia, all of them rendered admirably by the CSO under Gary Sheldon.   The story line, of course, varies a bit from the Disney rendition, and from the super-glitzed "Beast" that toured through here a few years ago.

But this one feels like home.  Go see it.  Bring the kids.  Over the weekend, they'll actually be allowed on stage, which is fitting for an all-around beautiful show.

Photo: Jason Hartley as the Beast. Photo by Will Shively.


Recent Reviews Articles

THE PRODUCERS:  From the Broadway Series, at the Ohio Theater
  December 29, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman

Chicken Soup for the Activist Soul
  December 22, 2004
  Mark T. Harris

Michael Crichton's deep lobbying
  December 17, 2004
  Gene Coyle

Miss Saigon: From the Broadway/Columbus Series, Now Playing at the Palace Theater
  December 8, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman

American Assassination: The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone
  October 25, 2004
  Four Arrows

Fahrenheit 9/11 is based on truth, and I challenge any Republican to cite any inaccuracies in the movie
  October 18, 2004
  L. Rolirad

"Crossing the Rubicon' bares all! Cheney, Bush complicity in 9/11; CIA on Wall Street and other financial scandals; End of Civilization?
  October 8, 2004
  Deborah Baker

The ice cream man's Farenheit 9/11
  July 30, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman

Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies: The Homeland
  July 28, 2004
  Bill McComb

Patti Smith: Trampin’
  July 28, 2004
  Bill McComb

Morrissey: You are the Quarry
  July 28, 2004
  Bill McComb

On Unfairenheit 9/11, "The lies of Michael Moore" by Christopher Hitchens
  July 18, 2004
  Graeme Greenup

Fahrenheit 911 is Fair and Balanced
  July 15, 2004
  Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

The Fitrakis Files: The Brothers Voinovich and the Ohiogate Scandal
  July 14, 2004
  Martin Yant

Moore and More is Needed
  June 29, 2004
  David Swanson

See Super Size Me soon ... and hold the fries
  June 21, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman

Hempfest photographs
  June 10, 2004
  MJ Willow

Analysis and review: The Fitrakis Files: Free Byrd and other cries for justice
  April 23, 2004
  Staughton Lynd

This 'Beast' is gorgeous
  March 11, 2004
  Harvey Wasserman

Burn the Maps and Get Lost in the Territory: Review of Jeffrey St. Clair's Been Brown So Long...
  March 8, 2004
  Josh Frank

Red Alert
  January 31, 2004
  Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services




Read Reviews Articles by Year:
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000



FREE PRESS EMAIL UPDATE


Donate to The Free Press The Free Press Store

FOLLOW US ON
twitter
facebook


SEARCH THE FREEPRESS




1021 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43205 | 614.253.2571 | truth@freepress.org
All content © 1970-2012 The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer