I took my mother, two grandmothers, and my two younger cousins to see the April 14th show @ 1 PM. My mother and I had seen Beauty and the Beast the last time it had come through Gammage, and we were super excited to share it with my grandmothers and cousins.
Belle - Hilary Maiberger was amazing. Period. As I said, I've seen B&tB before, and that Belle had had a pretty voice and a good stage presence. But Hilary's Belle was magnificent. Her voice is incredible, and I really wish that I could buy a CD with THIS casts' recordings. I literally would have seen the show again just to hear more of her singing if I hadn't happened to be attending the last one. We took the girls to get autographs after the show, and Miss Maiberger couldn't have been a nicer person. All around, double thumbs up.
Beast - Darick Pead's Beast was perfect. He was funny, boyish and had a beautiful voice as well. He was another one that was just absolutely one of the nicest people you'd ever meet.
Castle Crew - Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip and the rest of the gang were all extremely good. Chip was especially cute backstage (Gabriel Reis) because no one quite recognized him without a teacup on his head, and he approached our girls and asked if they would like an autograph. They were starstruck that a little boy like them could be in a big musical like Beauty and the Beast.
Gaston and the Village Crew - Excellent performances, excellent voices.
Overall, my second viewing of Beauty and the Beast was an even bigger enjoyment than the first about two years ago or so. I would certainly recommend that everyone sees it, if for nothing else but to hear the casts' singing - especially Hilary Maiberger - and their spectacular musical numbers.