Disney's Beauty and the Beast Original Broadway Cast Recording

I think there is a special kind of alchemy that happens between certain composers and lyricists. When the pairing really clicks, the composer writes better music than s/he would otherwise, and the lyricist's words reach a higher level. I believe that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were that type of songwriting team, and the Broadway incarnation of Beauty and the Beast helps me make my case.

As most know, this project started as an animated film for Disney with songs by Menken and Ashman released in 1991. In 1994, when the film was expanded to be a Broadway show, additional music was needed. But Howard Ashman had died in the intervening years, so Menken paired up with Tim Rice to add eight songs to the score. Well, no insult intended to Mr. Rice, but the songs he and Mr. Menken wrote don't hold a Lumiere to the original songs by Menken and Mr. Ashman. There is one new song from the stage version that I do love--"If I Can't Love Her". This is a beautiful ballad.

I also think there are some gay references in Mr. Ashman's lyrics. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but 17 years ago to have a crowd with torches (in the Mob's Song) sing "We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it makes us scared" certainly could refer to reactions to the gay community. I also think that Gaston is given some gay lyrics: "Every last inch of me is covered in hair" (was Ashman a Bear?) and "I use antlers in all of my decorating" (decorating, why is Gaston decorating anything?). And the whole Lefou worship of Gaston is questionable.

I've chosen to picture Gary Beach, the original Lumiere, for today's entry. I have a beef with Mr. Beach's performance, at least as it is represented on the cast album. It feels way over the top. Actually, it feels like he's auditioning for his role in The Producers. I miss Jerry Orbach, who voiced Lumiere in the animated film. God rest the song and dance man's soul.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Time Rice
Book by Linda Woolverton
Original Broadway show opening in 1994 based on the 1991 animated film
Cast: Susan Egan, Terrance Mann, Tom Bosley, Kenny Raskin, Burke Moses, Heath Lamberts, Gary Beach, Beth Fowler

A Producers Two-Fer

Well it's two for the price of one today with both the 2005 film of Mel Brook's The Producers and a documentary about the recording of the cast album for the stage show in 2001. Both DVDs arrived in my mailbox on the same day and it seemed logical to pair them in an entry.

The documentary taped during the recording of the cast album is mostly delightful. Perhaps I got a bit tired of Mel Brooks during it, but it's really his story to tell, so one must be forgiving. He's earned at least that much. I was struck by how intensely everyone was concentrating during the process. There was little hardy-har-haring, even from notorious Nathan Lane. I supposed the cost of producing an album and the pressure of getting it done in one day doesn't allow for much down time. We really only see the takes that are the final ones, I suspect, and that was a bit annoying, too. I wanted to see at least one big caflooey moment, assuming there was one.

The film version was made almost four years later and the first thing that I noticed was how much Nathan Lane's voice had aged, or more accurately how much his voice had worn out. Watching the process of recording the cast album made me appreciate the strain he was placing on his voice; by the time he's gotten to the film, the strain of eight shows a week for however long he performed the role shows--or rather sounds.

The film does not really capture the inspired lunacy of this show. And while Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell don't embarrass themselves totally by taking on the roles of Ula and Franz Liebkind, having just watched the recording session with Cady Huffman and Brad Oscar, it's difficult not to feel slightly on their behalf.

I still kick myself for not trying to see the out-of-town tryout for The Producers, which happened in Chicago. I rarely get swept into the latest zeitgeist of shows, or movies, or whatever, so I usually miss a lot. But this was ol' fashioned musical comedy at it's most inspired.

I'm too much of an old bitty. Hence my love of John Raitt and Alfred Drake. Perhaps I should move to Little Old Lady Land.

The Producers: The Movie Musical
Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks
Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Directed on the stage and on film by Susan Stroman
Cast in both film and album: Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Gary Beach, Roger Bart
Additional film cast: Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell
Additional album cast: Cady Huffman, Brad Oscar