I’ve got the music from this show stuck in my head–so my life is now a Disney musical!  Such is the irresistible power of this Broadway in Boston production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST once it gets going– which is somewhere at the beginning of Act II.

The long-running hit musical features a relentlessly catchy score, truly outstanding voices, clever staging, choreography, over the top costumes, and oversized sets that are a thicket of rococco swirl-icues. Act I suffers a bit from road fatigue, the acting verging on pat. But the big problem for me was the casting of Belle (Brooke Quintana, and not the same as in the above video).  Quintana’s voice is crystal clear, but she fails to project the whimsy and grace that should characterize “beauty.”  Beast (Sam Hartley) has infinitely more charisma and heart, and is largely the key to our emotional involvement in ACT II.  Gaston (Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek) is a blowhard and a real gas.

Presented by Broadway In Boston at The Opera House through Sunday January 10!