The Nocturne Theatre makes it four hits in a row with a terrifically crowd-pleasing, family-friendly in-the-round staging of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast.

It’s hard to believe that over three decades have passed since Disney’s take on the fairy-tale classic made movie history by becoming the first full-length animated feature to score a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Those who haven’t yet experienced Disney’s Beauty And The Beast live on stage may wonder how its 1994 Broadway adaptation managed to recreate with living, breathing actors the animated film’s Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts, servants transformed by an enchantress’s spell into items of furniture, especially in production numbers like “Be Our Guest.”

Suffice it to say that Disney Beauty And The Beast’s book writer Linda Woolverton and the show’s creators came up with ingenious solutions likely to surprise those who may have thought it couldn’t be done.

The 84-minute film’s original songs (music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman) have been supplemented by a number of tuneful additions (lyrics by Tim Rice) which serve to flesh out and enrich Woolverton’s characters, and though the stage musical’s longer running time might test the attention span of children under five, this is ideal family entertainment for elementary school-aged and up, the kind that adults can enjoy every bit as much as the kiddies.

And such is definitely the case at The Nocturne Theatre where director Justin Meyer, who has helmed every single Nocturne production since December’s Madame Scrooge, proves himself a whiz at directing to all four sides of the theater’s arena stage, meaning that no matter where you sit, you won’t feel the least bit slighted.

The same arena-stage expertise holds for the production’s full-cast song-and-dance extravaganzas (“Be Our Guest” and “Human Again” chief among them), choreographed with oodles of flair by Melissa Meyer, Ernie Peiffer, and Michalis Schinas and performed with a heaping helping of high kicks and pizzazz by the most multi-tasking of casts, with special snaps for the exciting, innovative “stein-ography” of “Gaston.”

Alyssa Rafael not only makes for the most radiant of Belles, she invests the role with beauty, depth, and smarts while singing in the most glorious of pop sopranos.

Andreas Pantazis graduates impressively from Gaston (a role he’s played in four previous productions) to his chief rival for Belle’s love, revealing the sensitive princely soul hiding beneath Beast’s self-protective bravado.

David Gallic is an irresistible hoot as the full-of-himself Gaston, Thomas Adoue Polk delights in pratfall after pratfall as his adoring sidekick Lefou, and Jack Bernaz plays Maurice with as much goofy charm as paternal warmth.

Meanwhile inside the castle, Rachel Franke, fresh off her breakout star turn in Jekyll & Hyde, makes for the most fabulous (and gender-bending) of Lumieres opposite Wesley Morrow’s delightfully stuffy Cogsworth.

Olive Lalli’s lovingly maternal Mrs. Potts, Nicole Nelson’s perky Chip, Frances Parsons’ saucy Babette, and Jennifer Karraz’s divalicious Madame de la Grande Bouche not only bring to life their inside-the-castle roles but double in Beauty And The Beast’s multi-tasking ensemble, allowing The Nocturne to stage Beauty And The Beast with a cast of seventeen compared to the Broadway original’s whopping thirty-six performers.

Also doing double (or triple or quadruple) duty are Danielle Johnson (Enchantress), Brendan Lynch (Bookseller), Chess MacElvaine (Monsieur D’Arque), Schinas (Magic Mirror), Jordan Iosua Taylor (Tavern Master), and Samantha Tilley (Silly Girl), and choreographer Meyer does somersaults galore as the castle’s dancing Carpet.

Cast vocals are uniformly terrific under Nolan Monsibay’s expert music direction, with sound engineer Matt Merline providing a finely tuned mix of amped voices and prerecorded tracks.

Jay Michael Roberts merits top marks for the most ingenious of scenic designs including a couple of moveable staircases that get utilized in ever more inventive ways, and Eric Marsh’s lighting design is his best so far, enhancing the castle’s spookiness and menace without leaving performer’s faces in the shadows while adding some magical effects along the way.

Indeed the only bone I have to pick with the Nocturne’s latest is about Tanya Cyr’s costumes. Yes, they give the production its own unique look distinct from the Disney original and some are quite splendid (Lumiere and Cogsworth topping the list of winners), but a Belle who walks around the village bare-shouldered, a Mrs. Potts who looks nothing at all like a teapot come to life, and a Beast who appears to be clad in a cheap Halloween costume (fur-cuffed pants?) just don’t cut the mustard. (I did like Beast’s horned headpiece however, so different from his usual leonine noggin.)

Micah Delhauer is stage manager. Seth Logan is scenic builder. Monsibay understudies the role of Lumiere.

If Madame Scrooge introduced an exciting new arrival on the L.A. musical theater scene, Into The Woods, Jekyll And Hyde, and now Disney’s Beauty And The Beast have made it clear that Meyer2Meyer Entertainment is no one-hit wonder, with next month’s Cabaret poised to make it five in a row.

In the meantime, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast guarantees audiences of all ages the most captivating and entertaining of springtime delights.

The Nocturne Theatre, 324 N. Orange St., Glendale.
www.TheNocturneTheatre.com

-Steven Stanley
May 10, 2024

Tags: Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Linda Woolverton, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Nocturne Theatre, Tim Rice