This year’s Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival provided another spectacular weekend of dazzling and stunning musical performances, thanks to the production of Disney’s 'Beauty and the Beast” presented by Redlands Bowl Performing Arts (RBPA).
The cast and crew weren’t going to let last weekend’s grueling heat and humidity prevent them from putting on an eye-catching and astounding musical during their four-day-run, and triumphed they did.
The two-hour-plus production included unforgettable and seamlessly intertwined musical performances that showcased the original movie’s beloved soundtrack as well as the numbers from The Broadway Musical adaptation.
In act I, scene I, the musical began with the well-known and scene-setting story of how a prince was cursed to become a beast until he learns how to love and receive love unconditionally, and with a flawless transition into the French village where we first meet our leading lady, within the crowd, children are re-positioning themselves for a better view, climbing onto mom and dad’s lap for the acclaimed opening musical number of “Belle.”
As celebrated the performance of the musical number “Belle” was, perhaps the largest and longest applause of the night was for the breathtaking and thrilling ensemble of “Gaston.”
This extraordinary and fast-past, dance-filled number included a highly difficult, but perfectly executed routine where the performers created a musical beat and rhythm, unaccompanied by instruments, only using beer mugs.
However, as the musical went on, the performers continued to captivate their audience with incredible vocals, by running up and down the aisles and even using the grass area off stage to extend the magical tale.
The RBPA brought together an audience filled with families and members of all ages, some of the children even dressed up in Belle’s iconic yellow dress to watch the musical.
The 95th season of musicals at the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival offered another year of culture, wonderment and joy to a family-based community and based on the spirited-laughter, engaged-eyes and warming smiles, there is no indication that next year’s musical will provide anything less than amazing.