Hale 'Beauty' has charm to spare

"DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST," Hale Centre Theatre, West Valley City, through Sept. 30 (984-9000). Running time: two hours (one intermission).

WEST VALLEY CITY — True devotees may have seen this play already. "Beauty and the Beast" has been performed before in Utah, twice at Pioneer Memorial. But local audiences don't seem to be tiring of it. On Saturday, Hale Centre Theatre's early matinee was practically sold out.

What makes the Hale production different from others, of course, is the unique staging of theater-in-the-round. (David Nieman directs, Marilyn May Montgomery choreographs and Kelly DeHaan is musical director.)

The main scenes of the village and castle take place in the center of the floor. But Belle's castle bedroom is on a platform in the middle of the audience, the library is on another platform, and the Beast's rose drops its petals on yet another platform.

As the play progresses, wolves slither down the stairs. The Beast's body rises into the rafters. A fountain shoots high and bubbles waft past your face. The dancing takes place in an extremely small space but manages to be satisfyingly energetic.

In short, even if you know every song and a lot of the dialogue of "Beauty and the Beast," this production gives you something new to look at.

As per usual at Hale Centre, there are two casts. At the early matinee, the standouts were Jennifer Latimer as Belle and Ryan Simmons as Lumiere. Many of the others have lovely voices and do a nice job, but these two, especially, are joyous.

Nathan Mikami is Beast, at times as sweet as a puppy dog. Greg Johnson is Gaston. Randy Honaker is Maurice. Erica Richardson has a pretty voice as the bureau. Lisa Grow is a younger Mrs. Potts than we are used to seeing, which actually makes more sense than casting an older woman as Chip's mom.

Overall, there is charm to spare in this production. The set device that works least well are the circular stairs, which lift and descend as the actors walk on them. The mechanics tend to distract from the action.

Sensitivity rating: Even young children ought to be able to enjoy this play. The wolf scenes are less scary than in other productions.

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