Latest 'Beauty and the Beast' missing some teeth

When the long-running off-Broadway revue "Forbidden Broadway" spoofed "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" during its Broadway run, lyricist Gerard Alessandrini satirized Disney's 1999 downsizing of its original production with the song "Beauty's Been Decreased" (sung to the tune of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's Oscar-winning title song).

That spoof is also applicable for the new NETworks-produced non-Equity tour of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast," now playing at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre through April 4. Anyone who caught "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway or on its Disney-produced national tour will find the current production to be a far less-opulent affair. And that's even after NETworks took the unusual step of employing the show's original Broadway director, choreographer and designers to restage this new tour.

Not that understatement is a bad thing, especially if you found Disney's original 1994 stage stab at "Beauty and the Beast" to be an overstuffed and plasticized theme-park take on its charming original 1991 animated film.

But there are touches of dazzlement and spectacle from the original production that are missed here. For instance, instead of real fire emanating from the hands of the candelabra character Lumiere, it's a safer fan and orange-lighting effect. There are also a smaller variety of kitchen utensil outfits in the big production number "Be Our Guest," giving the impression that costume designer Ann Hould-Ward was asked to make more economical versions of her original creations.

Director Rob Roth has tightened things by excising two stage songs and Matt West's swirling choreography still gets the job done.

On the acting side of things, strong performances abound in this young ensemble. Liz Shivener and Justin Glaser spar like a romantic comedy duo should in their respective roles as Belle and the Beast. As the villainous lunk Gaston and his accident-prone sidekick Lefou, Nathaniel Hackmann and Michael Fatica have their cartoonish comic timing down pat - complete with pratfall sound effects.

More comic oomph, however, would have been appreciated in the exchanges between Merritt David Janes' Lumiere and Keith Kirkwood as the stuffy clock Cogsworth. Also Sabina Petra's British accent as Mrs. Potts was just awful.

If you have vivid memories of Disney's original stage version "Beauty and the Beast," then this new tour will in no way measure up to its predecessor. Yet for a new generation of Disney Princess-obsessed kids who have never seen "Beauty and the Beast" live before, this tour will more than fill any expectations of the show in terms of sparkly stagecraft and fun.