Smarty Review – Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

The Children’s Theatre has done it again. This weekend they launched the 62nd season with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I took Zoe (my 5-year-old) and we had a mommy/daughter night out for a play and dinner. Zoe was so excited to see the play – she talked about it all day, “when are we going to see Belle, when are we going to see Belle” – thank goodness we went to the 3:00 show. Zoe is going through a real princess stage, so I was not surprised by her excitement.

We have been to the Children’s Theatre for several shows before, Go Dog Go, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and Peter Pan. We were a little young for our first show (when she was three), because Zoe didn’t understand that it wasn’t a cartoon. So it is always important to check out the recommended ages for the performances. The Children’s Theatre recommends ages five and older for this performance, and I think Zoe was the perfect age. I loved seeing all of the little girls who came in their yellow Belle princess dresses – too cute. There were plenty of children in the audience who were younger that enjoyed the show, so I wouldn’t discourage younger children from attending either, I would just be concerned about how they may feel about seeing a real person play the Beast.

The performance was great and extremely entertaining. Mrs. Pots and Chip were fabulous – Lumiere stole the show. It was great to see so many young actors in the performance as well. My favorite moment was the dancing scene for Be Our Guest where you were able to appreciate all of the costumes: dancing forks, knives, spoons, plates, salt, pepper, etc. And the dialogue had a couple of fun references to keep the older audience members engaged.

The show lasts about an hour and half with the intermission, and it kept Zoe’s attention the entire time. It was so much fun to see her big eyes watching every movement in the show. After every scene she would clap and say, “It’s not over, the Beast and Belle haven’t danced together yet.”

So if you are looking to support the arts in Charlotte, to share a little magic with your little one, or just do something different, check out Beauty and the Beast at the Children’s Theatre. It runs from September 25 through October 25. Tickets are $18 for general seating and $24 for Orchestra. Check out their website for show times and ticket availability. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.