Quickly: 6 things about Beauty and the Beast

If you haven't seen it yet, go. I'm not saying Disney's new Beauty and the Beast film is perfect, or that you won't be disappointed at all, but overall it's a great film, and full of magic. I thought I'd mix things up a little with something that's not a straightforward review. Here's a {spoiler-free} list of 6 things you'll learn from the new Beauty and the Beast film:

1. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens are great actors and highly attractive people - they just can't sing.

Sound of Music much?

Yeah. We all saw it coming, and basically it was what we expected. Emma Watson makes a fantastic Belle, and who doesn't love Dan Stevens as the Beast? There's just one problem: it's a musical. 

Some of the supporting actors have pretty good voices: Luke Evans isn't bad as Gaston, and Kevin Kline's brief solo is surprisingly good. Emma Thompson can sing well enough to play Mrs. Potts, and Audra McDonald is great as Garderobe (because McDonald actually sings). 

But, sadly, Emma and Dan don't quite pull it off. A great orchestra helps them out in the big moments of the score, but it can't take them all the way. Do I wish Disney had cast better singers in the roles? I'm not sure. It's a trade-off, I guess. 

2. LeFou is more complicated than we thought, but not quite as funny.

Don't get me wrong - he's still funny. And I couldn't have picked a better actor than Josh Gad to play Gaston's buffoonish sidekick. But Gad takes the character in a different direction. He's not just an imbecile, and he has character development. Also, yes, he's gay. But I think the press has made that into a bigger deal than it actually is in the film.

3. Gaston is sort of likeable.

I mean until he ties Maurice up to a tree and leaves him to the wolves. I almost liked the guy. And I loved the "Gaston" scene in the tavern. It was one of the highlights of the film. Dancing on the table a la Newsies = yes.

4. We should all return to 18th century French fashions.

Also yes are every single one of Belle's dresses, Gaston's overcoat, and pretty much anything that anyone wears in the entire movie. The visuals are gorgeous, from the set and landscape shots to the costumes, camera angles, and lighting. As a piece of visual artistry, it's perfect. 

The ballroom scene - !!!

5. This isn't the Beauty and the Beast you think you know.

JK, it totally is. I mean they changed a few lines here and there, added a couple brief songs, and mixed some scenes up a little, but for the most part it's pretty much the original cartoon replayed with live actors. I was kind of hoping they'd throw in the song "If I Can't Love Her" from the Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast, but they didn't. They did give the Beast a new song, but in my opinion it was a little on the lame side. 

Overall, though, I loved what they did with the story. Of course I loved the courage and little personality touches that Emma Watson brought to Belle, making her an inventor like her father and emphasizing her love of Shakespeare and such (Shakespeare!). And the orchestral score was breathtaking. (Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum! [bum] Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum! [bum] Bum bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum bum....bbuummm...... OK I'm done.)

6. To love another person is to see the face of God.

So enough from me. Go see the movie.

Until tomorrow.

Into the Worlds Part I: Searching for Olympus in Manhattan

So I know you're all dying to hear about my trip to the East Coast last month.

Oh, you didn't know? Well, I think it's appropriate for this blog, as it was very literary-heavy. But before we get started, announcements.

What the heck is this??????

J.K. Rowling Is About to Release 3 New Harry Potter Books

Don't get too excited: I'm not sure they're actually "Harry Potter" books. But, do get pretty excited, because they're about Hogwarts.

Now that we've got that out of the way, it's time for another Percy Jackson-related post! (Come on, it's been, like, what, three months since the last one?)

Into the Worlds Part I: Searching for Olympus in Manhattan

We (my family and I) spent the first part of our trip in Manhattan. One of the first things Anna did upon arriving was walk into the NY Yankees store and buy a baseball cap.

In the Percy Jackson universe, Manhattan is supposed to be the place where the old gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece take up their residence in the modern world. While I'm sorry to say I didn't actually see any live Greek gods or goddesses (I mean, I might have, I just didn't know it), I quickly came to the conclusion that if there's one place in the modern world that the old gods have come back to, it's definitely Manhattan. Not only is it the cultural hub of the modern world, there are allusions to the Greek gods all over the place. For a prime example, check out the statue on the Helmsley Building above (honestly, I have no idea what the Helmsley Building is, I just saw Hermes and took a picture). Looks like Hermes and probably Demeter, with her trademark wheat in tow.

Or take a look at this mural on the ceiling of the New York Public Library: 

It's Prometheus bringing fire to mortals (for which he was afterward punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten out every day by a giant eagle, but you know, whatever). I thought this was such a cool mural to have in the New York Public Library! Prometheus' fire represents the spark of knowledge, the flame of creation, the bringing of light into the world. 

Flanking the library on either side were two fountains with statues of what look like Aphrodite and a Greek philosopher.

I'm pretty sure this is a front for Zeus's center of operations in upstate New York.

And yes, I did visit the Empire State Building.

So I could care less that the Empire State Building is an excellent example of whatever architectural style it is, and that it was the tallest building in the world when it was constructed, and a monument to modern society and all that - I just wanted to visit the gateway to Mount Olympus!

Unfortunately, we didn't actually find Olympus, but that proves nothing! As every demigod knows, you can't get into Mount Olympus if the gods don't want you to. We did, however, find an elevator and snap this picture of Anna[beth] in her Yankees cap:

Tune in next time for the story of my literary rambles around New England.

Until tomorrow.

Oh yeah, this happened too. The show closes its Broadway run on September 4, so I feel extremely lucky to have seen it.

This is pre-seeing-Les-Mis-on-Broadway.

And post....

#LongLivetheRevolution
#ButNotTheShow
#BecauseIt'sClosing
#Why

So you think you can dance? You obviously haven't seen Newsies.

Disney's Newsies
Broadway's Smash Hit Musical
http://www.newsiesthemusical.com/

Starring Joey Barreiro, Morgan Keene, Zachary Sayle, Daniel Switzer
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Jack Feldman
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Choreography by Christopher Gattelli
Some Other Stuff by Some Other People

April 21, 2016
Keller Auditorium, Portland, Oregon, USA


Right now I feel like Katherine Plumber - the young reporter and heroine of Newsies; I can't figure out how to begin this review. So let's just start with what I'll inevitably end up talking about anyway: the insane dancing in Newsies.

The dance numbers are the Newsies trademark and without a doubt the most incredible part of the show. When you go to see Newsies you go to see News Boys performing crazy dance routines - and you're not disappointed. The best dance numbers are featured in the songs "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," and "King of New York." My favorite is the "Seize the Day" dance break, which, by the way, you can (sort of partly in a very simplified version) learn to do yourself by watching the tutorial video on the Newsies website.

If you're not sure what I mean by insane dancing, imagine a bunch of guys doing back-flips, sustained pirouettes, mid-air splits, spinning on newspapers, tap-dancing on tables with spoons, basically any and every incredible dance move you can imagine but didn't think was possible for mere mortals to perform - and then picture the Newsies doing it: 'cause they do.

Then picture them doing it in turn of the 19th century New York dress, and picture all of them as really good looking. That's Newsies.

Oh yeah, and they also sing.

Joey Barreiro as Jack Kelly in Newsies

I saw Joey Barreiro as Jack Kelly (the star of the show) and he was amazing - at his curtain call the applause rose ten decibels and everyone in the audience gave him a standing ovation. Of course he was a great dancer, and he played Jack Kelly with all the charisma, inner turmoil, and passion that the character demands. Also he had this small talent called being able to sing - really sing. When he belted "Santa Fe" (his big solo) from the rooftop, it was perfect.

Zachary Sayle as Crutchie with Joey Barreiro as Jack in Newsies

I also LOVED Zachary Sayle as Crutchie, Jack's best friend and brother in all but blood. I actually think Sayle might have been the best actor in the cast, and that's including all the "adult" cast members. His "Letter from the Refuge" song was perfect - with just the right blend of understated suffering and wry humor that the scene requires.

Davey was played by understudy Daniel Switzer, who apparently usually plays Race. Switzer did a fairly good job, but I wasn't crazy about him, and Davey is usually my favorite character. Part of that could have been the writing, though; I felt like Davey's character wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been, and he wasn't really allowed enough of a character arc throughout the show. As a point of comparison, in the Newsies movie (1992), Davey's character undergoes a dynamic transformation from the smart but timid and responsible oldest son to the fearless strike leader who has the guts to put his own words across instead of letting Jack speak them for him. I am definitely not suggesting that the musical should have been more like the movie; I'm just saying I would have liked a little more Davey.

The musical focused a lot on Jack's inner struggle to do the right thing for the Newsies, and that's great; but I felt like a couple of the main supporting characters had to take a step down and become less interesting so Jack could have the spotlight the whole time.

Morgan Keene as Katherine Plumber with Joey Barreiro as Jack Kelly in Newsies

And then there's Katherine Plumber, the show's heroine and Jack's romantic interest. I'm sure it's a fantastic role when played well, but I couldn't get behind Morgan Keene as Katherine; and I don't think it was just jealousy over the fact that she was surrounded by Newsies all the time. Her singing voice was great, but her acting style and speaking voice kind of drove me nuts. She was too whiny, I think, and most of the time she spoke in a sardonic tone of voice that I found irritating. At the very least, I wasn't convinced she was a match for the indomitable and dynamic Jack Kelly.

The Newsies

Everyone else in the cast was fine. Of course all the Newsies were great, Anthony Zaas was hilarious as Spot Conlon, though he didn't get enough stage time, and all the adult actors were good. The choreography and lighting were amazing, the set brilliant, and the orchestra perfect. Unfortunately, the music was just slightly too loud, which sometimes made it hard to discern what the actors were saying. I seem to remember this being a repeated problem with shows at the Keller Auditorium, so I don't know if it's just the venue or what.

Another thing (I don't know if it's a criticism or not), the show seemed to move REALLY fast - as in when Act I ended and the lights came on in the theatre, my sister and I turned to each other and said, "what? already?" As I said earlier, I think the show could have benefited from a little more character development and a little more conflict, or maybe just conflict that was drawn out a little longer than it was. But I think there might have been a very good reason for this, which is that the musical is geared towards a younger audience. It's still a really fun show if you're older, but I think the way the story unfolds is meant to cater more to kids than adults, and (though I can't technically speak as a kid) I think it hits the mark spot on in this respect.

The Newsies in "King of New York"

Finally, I want to give a shout out to the audience for having an awesome level of engagement and enthusiasm throughout the whole show. There was laughter, applause, and audible drawn-out gasps throughout, and an overwhelming ovation at the end. Maybe part of that is just the show's dynamics; but it helps to have a good audience.

And at the end of this review, let me just say it one more time: THE DANCING.

All in all, Newsies is an exhilarating amount of fun, a definite family musical, and entertaining across ages, featuring inspiring characters, a good message, and dance scenes you never knew could happen.

So if you get the chance to see it, I'd say, yeah, seize the day.
(You knew that pun was inevitable.)

Until tomorrow.