Starlight Bowl at Balboa Park (San Diego, CA)
Step into the enchanted world of Broadway's modern classic! Based on the Academy Award-winning animated film, the stage version of the Disney musical features all of the wonderful songs from the film, including "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast." Nominated for nine Tony Awards, it's currently the sixth-longest running show in Broadway history.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
All dates for this event have expired.
The last event was Sunday August 26, 2007 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
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Eventhough I was suffering from a flu the play, Beauty And The Beast made forget my discomfort for a while. The costumes, the actors, and the stage effects were very good. Note: Small children might be scared by the beast, the actor plays his role well... Have a great time....
The planes were a little distracting but it was a great performance. it was also great to have the chance to meet the performers afterwards and take pictures with them.
The play was great. They did a great job with casting. Belle and Gaston's voices matched perfectly. Loved the music. The only negative experience is regarding the theatre location. The heavy air traffic from the San Diego's airport becomes annoying. The performers pause when the airplanes are overhead, but it became a nuisance.
I went to the opening show on Thursday and it was pretty good. It wasn't quite Broadway caliber but it was very good and professional. The singers were good, especially the Beast. Belle was also very solid and sounded almost exactly like the Disney cartoon movie voice. The only bad part of the experience was the damn planes above flying by every 5 minutes. I think they should just perform through it instead of pausing. It made it more unbearable to wait. Just shout louder when the planes go by!!!
I really enjoyed the performance. It wasn't the greatest i'd ever seen, but it was well worth the price i paid.. The charcetrs/actors who really stole the show were Gaston and the enchanted objects.
The performance was nothing more than average. This is my 2nd time watching Beauty and the Beast. The first was at the civic theater years ago and the actors showed more skill. They've altered the routines and the show is just not as great as before.
Excellent singing, and the transformation effect was good, but the pacing of dialogue was spotty, and the venue distracting due to the airplanes.
Our 12 year old absolutely loved it. I noticed really young ones fell asleep. Very professional and entertaining production. Would highly recommend this for families. We took a taxi to the event which made arriving and leaving so much easier.
The actress who played Belle was dynamic but I thought the other characters were lacking and did not draw the audience into the WOW. The planes flying over directly right of the stage was a distraction. The theatre was clean and the ushers were friendly and accomodating.
I really enjoyed this play! It was very well put together, and a good experience for the whole family. The theater is great, and so fun to be at!
My sister and I saw other patrons enjoying their picnic dinner on the luscious lawn ouside the theatre, and were envious that we didn't know to bring a dinner with us. Although the night was balmy, and we brought jackets to wear, we did end up renting a blanket because as the night wore on, the air became cooler and moist. Somtimes the airplanes flew overhead and the action wasn't stopped, so we missed the spoken or sung words. The Beast was terrific! His voice strong and magnetic.
Great show. Loved the music. Orchestra was fantastic...together...smooth...technically superb. The only challenge for me was the cheesy cutlery costumes.
Gaston was a gas, and Cogsworth was spectacular, and of course Lumiers performance was de'lightful.
This is a really great show for kids --they loved the show and getting to meet Belle and take pictures with her afterward! Belle sounded JUST LIKE the Belle from the Disney movie, and Gaston was hillarious. My husband and I enjoyed the show as well. Nicely done for a less formal venue. Yes, the planes can be annoying but that's a given with the Starlight. My one complaint.... and it is a BIG complaint.... is that we paid for section A seats and ended up in Section B, halfway up the theater. This was very disappointing especially since we were there with the kids!! Goldstar did refund the price difference the next day, but I would rather have had the better seats as paid for!
The seats were outstanding! However, the show wasn't that wonderful. There were stand out performances...Belle, Gaston, Madame...but others weren't so great. My youngest son loved it, but the rest of the family wasn't impressed.
The price of a ticket was too high for the venue. I know that you cannot help the airplanes flying by. But because they took away from the play so much, it would have been better if I did not spend so much money on a ticket.
Beautifully staged and special effects were fantastic. My grandson sat in rapt attention.
This show was good, but not great. Beauty did a nice job.. she had great vocals, but there were other actors that brought down the quality of the show for me. The performance lacked 'peaks'.... I found myself watching the time.
The only downside was the planes coming in for landings every 5 minutes right above the theatre. It was quite annoying, but the actors paused when the planes flew over so you didn't miss any dialogue. The performances were great though and we enjoyed the show.
The only other complaint I had was one of the ushers came up to me and told me not to take pictures and that it was illegal. That's fine because I didn't even have a camera with me! The elderly woman must have been confused.
great! a huge improvemtn over Aida which did not impress us at all. Acting, singing, stage design, everything was worthy!
Great Show...very well done!
Balboa Park's beautiful outdoor amphitheater has been home to Starlight Musical Theatre's summer shows since the late 1940s -- but back then the actors didn't have to coordinate with airplane noise. The 4,000-seat bowl is in the flight path to Lindbergh Field, and it's a San Diego tradition for the actors to freeze in their pose in mid-song as the planes pass overhead.
This “tale as old as time” begins in a lovely French provincial town where the beautiful Belle lives with her eccentric inventor father, Maurice. Belle longs for a life of adventure, but instead finds herself being pursued by the ill-mannered and pompous Gaston, who is never without his sidekick, Lefou. When Maurice doesn’t return from a trip to the local fair, Belle rushes off to find him.
To her dismay, she discovers he is being held captive in an old castle by a horrible beast. The Beast accepts Belle's offer to stay in exchange for her father’s freedom and soon Belle learns of the other enchanted inhabitants of the castle. Lumiere, the lovestruck candelabra; Cogsworth, the pompous clock; and Mrs. Potts, the kindly teapot decide that Belle is the one they've been waiting for -- the one who can break the spell. If only the Beast can learn to love Belle and earn her love in return, can they all live happily ever after.
The Broadway show was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, (the team responsible for Little Shop of Horrors), plus new songs written especially for the Broadway version by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice (Aladdin, Aida).
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