I haven't gotten around to writing about this yet but I wanted to make sure I get it down before I forget. My mom recently too me, D and JH to see the stage production of Beauty and the Beast. I was so excited to go as this has always been my favorite Disney movie. My mom bought a block of 16 or 17 tickets for a bunch of different people to go including my boss and co-worker and their two daughters. We went up to Calgary in the morning and did a bit of shopping and dinner before the show. We first went to the Chinook mall and after spending 45 minutes trying to find a parking spot and losing JH in the process (she got out of the car to save us a spot but we got caught in traffic and lost her). I was hoping to find some bits for my costume for Comicon this year but had no luck with that. I was feeling a bit frustrated with the whole shopping experience by this point (I couldn't find what I wanted, the mall was crazy busy and we had lost D and JH...again) when I came across the most interesting store. I literally stopped in my tracks and yelled "there's a hat store!" It was this amazing little shop called Chapel and it was filled with the most incredible hats. I spent a bunch of time trying on various hats and fascinators (including a $300 feather one) and finally settled on one to buy for myself. We then managed to track down D and JH and then went back to the store and tried on more hats and D bought one for herself as well. This will be a must stop place for me whenever I go to Calgary from now on.
My new hat!
D's fabulous new chapeau
We then went for dinner with a bunch of the other ladies that were going to the show and then headed off to the theatre. Dinner took a little longer than we had planned for so D and I ended up changing into our dresses while driving to the show. I would love to say that's the first time this has happened to this family but it seems to be somewhat of a tradition with us. When we got to the theatre we met up with my boss and company. We headed in to our seats and they were quite good. We were on the first balcony first row so there were no heads to obscure our views. Boss lady and the kids were one section over from us and one row up. The kids were so excited to see the show and I noticed after a bit that the 2 seats next to me were unoccupied. Whoever had purchased them (it was a sold out show) had not come for whatever reason so the kids moved down and sat next to me for the whole show. It made it just that extra bit special as they still really see the magic in a show such as this. We shared binoculars the whole show and I answered the odd question they had and the only fight we had was over the binoculars when Belle came out in the famous yellow dress. We all wanted to be the first to see it.
A view from our seats pre-show
The show itself was great. The costumes were incredible and it did capture the spirit of the movie I loved quite well. I wasn't sure how I felt about Belle at first as she sang the opening number differently than what I am used to, but she soon grew on me. Some of the things I really enjoyed about the show were the set changes. They were so smooth and worked into the show with many of the dancers facilitating the changes and becoming part of the set as the action went on around them. Lumiere was fabulous as was Gaston. They both really stole the show. The design of the sets and use of scrims, particularly when the wolf puppets were being used and during the final battle between the Beast and Gaston were ingenious. I also really enjoyed the final transformation scene as the did some amazing wire work to keep it really close to the movie as well. I think that scene was a little extra special from where I was sitting as one of the kids leaned over to me and whispered "how do they do that?". My response of "magic" was met with wide eyed enthusiasm.
My favorite number of the show was "Gaston" as it featured some incredible choreography with steel beer steins that I don't know if many others really appreciate how difficult it was. I found a video that shows a bit of what I'm talking about, although it is not the same cast I saw and a shorter version of it.
I did love the show overall, but I think that The Lion King was a better stage production. JH and I were both happy that we still liked the Beast better as a beast than as a human in the stage show. It was a nice day out with the female part of my family, even if it was about 2 am before we got home and I did have to work the next day. Thanks to my awesome mom for keeping our girls day at the theatre tradition alive.
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