AngieBelle
<font color=#FF0066>Future Belle on Broadway<br><f
- Joined
- Aug 30, 1999
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Hey, I found this cool article on backstage.com! It's about Beth Fowler, the original Mrs. Potts on Broadway and why she continues to return to this role.
It's Always Tea Time at the Lunt-Fontanne
Beth Fowler wants to know, "What's the fascination?" She's not sure why people are so interested in the phenomenon of long runs. People are forever asking her about her extended stint as Mrs. Potts, the motherly teapot in "Beauty and the Beast." The Disney musical opened at the Palace on April 18, 1994, later moving to the Lunt-Fontanne.
Certainly, when Fowler signed for the role, there was no assurance that she was stepping into a hit. As a matter of fact, she can laugh now that she was torn at the time between her role in "Beauty" and a part in "The Red Shoes" (which turned out to be one of the biggest Broadway disappointments of the 1990s, playing a total of five performances).
The reviews for "Beauty" seemed to indicate that it too would quickly fold. Fowler believes that the show was the victim of "Disney bashing." But word of mouth was good, and the show settled into its run. Before the end of the first year, Fowler went to Los Angeles to inaugurate the company there--staying seven months.
She's taken some breaks from "Beauty" over the years. About two seasons after returning to New York, she was injured. "Ironically, at the point in time when I was considering leaving because I had been doing it so long and because I thought it unwise for me, career-wise, to stay for that long, I had the injury. And I was out for seven months, and they invited me to come back, and they were very generous. And I thought, 'Well, yes, I'll do this'--and I stayed for another year."
But she decided she didn't want to be a part of the scaled-back version when the show later moved to the Lunt-Fontanne. She left once again and stayed out for two years--then was invited back to the role for a six-month engagement. When she went to view the show again, she was delighted with the shape it was in. "I loved the way it played at the Lunt; it was more accessible. I, as an audience member, felt embraced by it, which I never felt at the Palace. Plus the fact that I was really impressed with what they had done in maintaining the show, and the level of performances." So she returned to the nest yet again.
She had one more respite when she appeared in last season's "Bells Are Ringing," but is now signed with "Beauty" through November of this year.
Fowler claims that the show has a built-in popularity factor--undoubtedly because it's based on a hit animated film (for which Angela Lansbury provided the voice of Mrs. Potts). "To do this show is to go on stage and have them love you before you do anything. And then, when you do do something nice, they're really happy."
She feels that she's kept growing in the role over the years. Her Mrs. Potts is less "affected" than she was at the outset--and, paradoxically, is both simpler and more complex. "I just feel that I'm inhabiting the character with great ease," she adds.
Unceasingly listening to the audience for cues about what they need helps Fowler stay on her toes. Sometimes, the audience is carefully attuned to the story; at other times, they seem to be there just for the splashy musical numbers. The show sometimes draws audiences composed largely of non-English speakers, which poses an additional challenge.
The Disney organization has been supportive in allowing Fowler to pursue day work: readings, commercials, and series TV spots. She did a guest shot on "Ed," and recently had a "Law and Order" callback. All of this has helped her to feel as though she's not constantly locked in the "Beauty" china closet with the "gotta dance" flatware.
The only times that Fowler has felt listless during the run have been when she's had onstage colleagues who've not taken the show as seriously as she does:
"I'm not playing a teapot; I'm playing a mother whose son is dying. I mean, it's not as grave as all that, but the stakes are really high, as far as I'm concerned. And I get really pissed off when other actors don't really think that--they just think they're there to do the musical numbers. It's a really good story--that's our real appeal. I mean, it's got a lot of the showbiz stuff going for it, but it's a good story."
Fowler believes that some actors just don't have the temperament to cope with long runs. It doesn't mean they're less talented or creative, necessarily. But their boredom can result in some damaging onstage behavior:
"I have worked with very talented actors who, after three or four months, just because of the nature of their personalities, become bored. And they don't know how to work the discipline--they don't enjoy the discipline. They want to be creative, and they play within it, and sometimes it's interesting. But a lot of times, it doesn't serve the piece and the original intentions of the piece."
A good stage manager can step in to "take out the improvements," but that doesn't always happen, according to Fowler. "It's really more up to the integrity of the performers, and that's why I'm really glad that I'm in the ensemble that I am."
It's Always Tea Time at the Lunt-Fontanne
Beth Fowler wants to know, "What's the fascination?" She's not sure why people are so interested in the phenomenon of long runs. People are forever asking her about her extended stint as Mrs. Potts, the motherly teapot in "Beauty and the Beast." The Disney musical opened at the Palace on April 18, 1994, later moving to the Lunt-Fontanne.
Certainly, when Fowler signed for the role, there was no assurance that she was stepping into a hit. As a matter of fact, she can laugh now that she was torn at the time between her role in "Beauty" and a part in "The Red Shoes" (which turned out to be one of the biggest Broadway disappointments of the 1990s, playing a total of five performances).
The reviews for "Beauty" seemed to indicate that it too would quickly fold. Fowler believes that the show was the victim of "Disney bashing." But word of mouth was good, and the show settled into its run. Before the end of the first year, Fowler went to Los Angeles to inaugurate the company there--staying seven months.
She's taken some breaks from "Beauty" over the years. About two seasons after returning to New York, she was injured. "Ironically, at the point in time when I was considering leaving because I had been doing it so long and because I thought it unwise for me, career-wise, to stay for that long, I had the injury. And I was out for seven months, and they invited me to come back, and they were very generous. And I thought, 'Well, yes, I'll do this'--and I stayed for another year."
But she decided she didn't want to be a part of the scaled-back version when the show later moved to the Lunt-Fontanne. She left once again and stayed out for two years--then was invited back to the role for a six-month engagement. When she went to view the show again, she was delighted with the shape it was in. "I loved the way it played at the Lunt; it was more accessible. I, as an audience member, felt embraced by it, which I never felt at the Palace. Plus the fact that I was really impressed with what they had done in maintaining the show, and the level of performances." So she returned to the nest yet again.
She had one more respite when she appeared in last season's "Bells Are Ringing," but is now signed with "Beauty" through November of this year.
Fowler claims that the show has a built-in popularity factor--undoubtedly because it's based on a hit animated film (for which Angela Lansbury provided the voice of Mrs. Potts). "To do this show is to go on stage and have them love you before you do anything. And then, when you do do something nice, they're really happy."
She feels that she's kept growing in the role over the years. Her Mrs. Potts is less "affected" than she was at the outset--and, paradoxically, is both simpler and more complex. "I just feel that I'm inhabiting the character with great ease," she adds.
Unceasingly listening to the audience for cues about what they need helps Fowler stay on her toes. Sometimes, the audience is carefully attuned to the story; at other times, they seem to be there just for the splashy musical numbers. The show sometimes draws audiences composed largely of non-English speakers, which poses an additional challenge.
The Disney organization has been supportive in allowing Fowler to pursue day work: readings, commercials, and series TV spots. She did a guest shot on "Ed," and recently had a "Law and Order" callback. All of this has helped her to feel as though she's not constantly locked in the "Beauty" china closet with the "gotta dance" flatware.
The only times that Fowler has felt listless during the run have been when she's had onstage colleagues who've not taken the show as seriously as she does:
"I'm not playing a teapot; I'm playing a mother whose son is dying. I mean, it's not as grave as all that, but the stakes are really high, as far as I'm concerned. And I get really pissed off when other actors don't really think that--they just think they're there to do the musical numbers. It's a really good story--that's our real appeal. I mean, it's got a lot of the showbiz stuff going for it, but it's a good story."
Fowler believes that some actors just don't have the temperament to cope with long runs. It doesn't mean they're less talented or creative, necessarily. But their boredom can result in some damaging onstage behavior:
"I have worked with very talented actors who, after three or four months, just because of the nature of their personalities, become bored. And they don't know how to work the discipline--they don't enjoy the discipline. They want to be creative, and they play within it, and sometimes it's interesting. But a lot of times, it doesn't serve the piece and the original intentions of the piece."
A good stage manager can step in to "take out the improvements," but that doesn't always happen, according to Fowler. "It's really more up to the integrity of the performers, and that's why I'm really glad that I'm in the ensemble that I am."
