"B&B" (MGM) Show is Sad Now !

[meiandrew]

Hi All,

Just got back a few days ago from another great trip, but we all are still laughing thinking about the "Beauty & The Beast" show at MGM. I remember when the show was really good. They used to release doves at the end and everything. Now, Lefou is no more.... Belle's father isnt even in the show anymore, so you really dont even know how or why Belle ends up at the castle (except for the narrator saying something about a bunch of unexpected events!!!) There are no special effects anymore.
The beast just walks off the stage behind a towel !! Gaston doesnt even get killed at the end anymore... He just runs off the stage ! We felt bad for the CM's that perform this supercut production. The "Hunchback" show was much better !!!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Ya know I kinda thought the same thing when we saw it last October, something seemed to be missing.

We did totally love the "preshow"

 

[Eeyore2U]

I guess I saw a dfferent show in February.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Loved the pre-show.

I was probably the only one in the audience that didn't have a clue!

 

[Kallison]

Dh only goes for the pre-show, then he leaves .

 

[Pugsley]

It is a little different but I still enjoyed it. I loved the doves, but I believe they stopped doing that because other birds were killing them when they were released! So I can live with them stopping that practice!

 

[PammyK]

Kallison - I do the same thing as your husband. I love the Four for $ preshow, but the main B&tB show has gotten really stale to me. Especially when I remember how wonderful HoND was.

As for the doves...it is true that they were discontinued b/c birds of prey learned that they could get a free lunch everyday at the end of B&tB. I'd rather not see the doves get released only to have a hawk swoop down and grab one for lunch!!

The restaging I can live with as long as I don't have to see the show very often.

 

[BethR]

Originally posted by meiandrew
... The "Hunchback" show was much better !!!

Absolutely AGREED!!!

"Bring back the HoND Show!!!"

 

[Disnsyncey]

I guess I'm the only one who still likes this show? All I remember from the old show is the "wolves" dance and such......I absolutely LOVE the B&tB show now. Since they took out some of the other stuff, they were able to put in the great songs and important parts of the show. I see it almost every month now haha

I despised the Hunchback movie, and I saw the show and I wasn't impressed at all.....so maybe that's why I like this show so much.

 

[MaryJ]

I never saw the old show, and the new one was brand new when I first saw it. I thought it was great. Of course, one of the dancers was from my DD's home studio, so that made it even more appealing to us. She is no longer a CM, so the show isn't as "fun" for us as it was.

 

[meeko_33785]

Originally posted by meiandrew
Hi All,

Just got back a few days ago from another great trip, but we all are still laughing thinking about the "Beauty & The Beast" show at MGM. I remember when the show was really good. They used to release doves at the end and everything. Now, Lefou is no more.... Belle's father isnt even in the show anymore, so you really dont even know how or why Belle ends up at the castle (except for the narrator saying something about a bunch of unexpected events!!!) There are no special effects anymore.
The beast just walks off the stage behind a towel !! Gaston doesnt even get killed at the end anymore... He just runs off the stage ! We felt bad for the CM's that perform this supercut production. The "Hunchback" show was much better !!!

I really like the B&B Show. The doves was a safety thing. They don't release doves anywhere in the parks anymore since the larger brids would come down and snatch them. Le Fou and Maurice were never in the show and Gaston always just ran off the stage at the end of the Battle, never dying. Personally, I like the new version of the transformation with the tapestry. Itdoesn't seem nearly as cheesy as when they use to do it with the tinkle lights and not seeing anyone's face for 5 minutes. All in all, I think the show is an improvement and, to be honest, think it is more entertaining and has more heart than the Hunchback show ever did.

 

[DramaTech]

I loved HoND and wish they would bring it back. The singing in it was incredible. I love the puppetry at the beginning with Quasi flying up when he rang the bell. Was so cool!

Regarding B&B, I'm one of those who will go for Four for a Dollar and then leave. I saw B&B The Musical when it was on its first off-Broadway run (the run where they spend the most money on the show...every tour of a show after the first nationwide tour is generally less technically advanced and less marketed...generally) Nothing can compare with that, so the B&B show at MGM is sort of a let down for me.

 

[meiandrew]

<< I really like the B&B Show. The doves was a safety thing. They don't release doves anywhere in the parks anymore since the larger brids would come down and snatch them. Le Fou and Maurice were never in the show and Gaston always just ran off the stage at the end of the Battle, never dying. Personally, I like the new version of the transformation with the tapestry. Itdoesn't seem nearly as cheesy as when they use to do it with the tinkle lights and not seeing anyone's face for 5 minutes. All in all, I think the show is an improvement and, to be honest, think it is more entertaining and has more heart than the Hunchback show ever did. >>

Are you sure about that? I remember both Le Fou and Maurice being in the show. I can do without Le Fou, but Maurice is essential, IMHO. Why else would Belle end up at the castle?

I just think that they should make it a bit longer, and add some parts. As far as the HB show. Guess we will agree to disagree on this one. Thought HB was much better !!!

 

[meiandrew]

Did a google search because my curiousity got the best of me.

Found a number of sites that mentioned Maurice being in the show. Here is one:

This thoroughly entertaining show, which debuted in 1991 and is located at the 1500-seat, Theater of the Stars amphitheater on Sunset Boulevard, is adapted from the award-winning Disney film. It features all your favorite Beauty and the Beast characters, songs, and some dazzling special effects.
The show opens in the quaint French village, where our heroine Belle, lives with her father, Maurice, and takes you through her adventures in the Beast°s castle. With the likes of Cogsworth the Clock, Lumiere the Candelabra, Mrs. Potts the Teapot, adorable little Chip the teacup, and the rest of the castle°s whimsical servants, this show is a definite must see.

http://www.123disney.com/mgmattractions/mgm15.html

Someone please tell me that I am not going nuts. I remember both Maurice and Lefou being in the original MGM production.

 

[cindala]

Just out of curiousity, what replaced the Hunchback show? Is that theater being used for any other production?

 

[LindaBabe]

nothing CAN replace the Hunchback show in my mind.

 

[cindyfan]

This thoroughly entertaining show, which debuted in 1991 and is located at the 1500-seat, Theater of the Stars amphitheater on Sunset Boulevard, is adapted from the award-winning Disney film. It features all your favorite Beauty and the Beast characters, songs, and some dazzling special effects.

Has it really been there that long????
That was the year the movie came out. And they put into production there that soon?! WOW.
Didn't the broadway show start in 1994? I just assumed that this show at MGM was after that.
I first saw it in 1998. And don't remember Le Fou or Maurice ever in it. Must have been before that??!

I LOVE it anyway!
And also love Hunchback!

 

[SueM in MN]

The show at WDW started before the Broadway show (from what I remember, the success of it was part of the reason they did the Broadway show).
We saw it at WDW the first year it was produced and I don't remember Maurice or LaFou ever being shown in the show. I don't have time to dig them out, but I know we have video of one of the first times we saw the show.
I like B&B, but I really loved HoND. I miss that show.

PS. I heard the smae story about the birds (that they were being taken for lunch by other bigger birds). I believe I read it somewhere "official" like the Mickey Monitor.

 

[epcotfan]

Originally posted by Kallison
Dh only goes for the pre-show, then he leaves .

That's what my mom wants to do the next time we go. She just bought the Return 2 Zero cd and loves it!

 

[Samirella]

Originally posted by meiandrew
Hi All,

They used to release doves at the end and everything.

They stopped doing this when the hawks in the area learned the pattern and would kill the doves.

Now, Lefou is no more.... Belle's father isnt even in the show anymore,

Lefou and Maurice never were in the show.