"And We Provide The Rest..."

Yesterday, Amy posted a video of The Phantom of the Opera in ten minutes, and if you haven't seen it, you should. Link here. Go watch it. Now.

Seen it? Insert Mr. Bennet's "Excellent." Moving on...

I was greatly inspired to search out BatB videos of my own to share with you all, so off to the depths of youtube I traveled (okay, it wasn't that deep of a search, but it's a scary place, I'm sure you'll agree). Guess what, peoples? I found a BatB in ten minutes. Granted, it's not nearly as funny as PotO in ten or even P&P in ten (which Amy posted a while ago on Sink Me!), but it's pretty spiffy. Please enjoy.

And then I couldn't stop there, so let's add a few more videos, just because, okey dokey?

I usually skip the first minute of this just because the triplets are so annoying, so feel free to start at about 1:00 or so. 1:01 works, too. This has got to be one of the best renditions of "Me" that I have seen! I love the choreography and how perfectly Gaston and Belle play off one another. Her little pointing off into the distance to distract Gaston and then trying to flee behind his back makes me crack up every time! Just to give credit where credit is due, this video is from a school's (it's only listed as SCA, so I apologize for not knowing the name) 2009 production of BatB, featuring Kaden Forsberg as Gaston and Stephanie Pennar as Belle.

This is snippets from the 1994 Original Broadway Cast starring Susan Egan and Terrence Mann as Belle and the Beast (two persons that I'm certain you recognize by now if you've read any of my previous posts). Gaston is played by Burke Moses, Lumiere by Gary Beach, and Mrs. Potts by Beth Fowler. I apologize for the poor quality of the video, but I had a hard time finding just Be Our Guest from the 1994 cast, so we're settling for this just because I wanted to include something from Be Our Guest in this post and I felt like slipping in the movie clip was cheating because it's not technically part of *the* musical. 

Also from the 1994 cast and sung by Susan Egan and Tom Bosley, one of my favorite songs: No Matter What. I am disappointed that this version doesn't include the intro to the song where Maurice sings, "No, we're not odd, it's true. No family could be saner, except one uncle who, well... maybe let that pass. In all you say and do, you couldn't make it plainer. You are your mother's daughter, therefore you are class." You don't get the deepness of the relationship between father and daughter in the 1991 Disney movie because they put most of the focus on Belle's relationship with the Beast, but I love how they gave Maurice those extra scenes in the musical. That's when you start to fully understand why Maurice was so intent on achieving fame with his invention and why Belle willingly offered herself in exchange when the Beast had Maurice locked up. A strong family that sings together... what's not to like?

God bless!