Am I the only person who cries during Beauty and the Beast?

Not when Belle and the Beast get together - but when Belle trades her life to save her quirky, inventor father from the Beast’s cold dungeon. I just love this story for little girls. Of all the popular fairy tales offering up Princesses saved by the handsome Prince to young people today, only Beauty and the beast extols the virtues of being a common girl with more book-loving brains that the common folk can stand to appreciate.

I loved seeing all the little girls in the audience thrilling to this colorful and lavish production that really encourages them to be courageous and unique and not settle for either the macho town cutie in Gaston or the brutish untransformed Beast that is unable to express his love for her in a considerate, loving way.

Liz Shivener, as Belle, was lovely in the role with just the right amount of imperious defiance. Justin Glaser, as the Beast had a nice stage presence but seemed a little too nice and not quite princely enough to make us want him to win Belle.

He had some tough competition from Nathaniel Hackman who really stole the show with his very funny, sexy Gaston, the town bully. Hackman, who has solid physical comedy skills under his belt also has a standout singing voice and is definitely a musical theater star in the making.

All of the supporting characters, were quite funny, and warmly played, particularly Sabina Petra's Mrs. Potts.  Some of the great ensemble dance numbers like “Be Our Guest” literally exploded into the excited young audience with canons shooting metallic streamers.  You really can’t miss by taking your kids to see this lavish magical and uplifting production of a classic fairy tale about a smart young girl whose true beauty comes from her brains and deeply unselfish loving nature.