Thursday, December 8, 2022
We went to the Ordway’s production of Beauty and the Beast and it was spectacular. When it started, I had a passing thought wondering how many times we have seen it since the original Broadway production came to Minneapolis in the mid 1990s. I wondered if I would not love it because I had seen it a bunch (not the least of which was when Woodbury Middle School did it and I think my mouth fell open and stayed that way the whole show because I was astonished at how marvelous it was). No need to have worried (well, I didn’t really worry, because it started and it was immediately wonderful).
When we broke for intermission, Keith and I had a flurry of “Isn’t the Beast terrific? Gaston and LaFou are top notch! Cogworth and Lumiere are WONDERFUL!”
This is not a traveling Broadway show, this is a local Ordway production. I believe they said twenty-eight of thirty-five of the performers are local. Sam Stoll was the understudy for Lumiere tonight – his first time stepping into the role. I cannot imagine what the regular guy is like, because Sam knocked it out of the park. He held my attention every second he was on stage. We were close to the front, so we could see everyone so well. What a treat that was.
The picture of the day comes from Rice Park, across the street from the Ordway. It was such a beautiful, not-so-cold night that we strolled through several parks of lights on our way to the show. Since it was in St. Paul – so much closer to home than Minneapolis – we were plenty early and had time to enjoy the journey. It’s always a good thing to do!
You took me to the Beauty and the Beast a long time ago – we sat in the third row, and I was absolutely blown away. Such a special memory!!
Keith and I were talking about that when trying to remember seeing it before. He must not have been with us, because he doesn’t remember sitting down front