Beauty and the Beast

Last night the girls and I went with Annie to see Beauty and the Beast at Grapevine High School. We actually saw Southlake High School's Beauty and the Beast show when Sofia was 4 and Olivia was just a few months old. At that time, Olivia was very scared of loud noises and would often start crying when one of us sneezed! So, I ended up spending most of the show in the lobby since Southlake used real fireworks a few times during the performance as well as several other loud noises. So, it was nice to know that we could all enjoy the show. When I bought the tickets on-line on Saturday afternoon, I was surprised that they were nearly all sold out! In fact, we picked one of the last groupings of four seats together and they were really great seats. It wasn't ideal to go on a Monday night at 7pm since I knew getting the girls up and off to school the next day would be a challenge, but I really did want to see the show and the other two nights it ran we weren't able to make it.

We met Annie in the lobby and found our seats once the doors opened. Our seats were really perfect and we were right in the center. The theater isn't very big compared to Southlake's but it was great to see it so full after going to Heritage High School's show and it being so empty. The show began and it was really great and a lot of fun. The singing was fantastic, especially the girl who played Belle. All the acting was top notch and the live music really added to a special show. The tickets were $15 for adults and $10 for each child and the acting was so worth the price of our evening!

At the intermission, Annie took the girls to the lobby to get a treat and Sofia picked out the sweet and sour watermelons while Olivia picked out the sour patch bears. Olivia didn't like her choice so I told her to just set them aside and we'd do something else at home, but she ended up eating them all. The show ended about 45 minutes later and we all stood and cheered for the cast, who were all amazing. Since it was the closing night, the cast handed out gifts and flowers to their directors and then headed into the gymnasium where we followed so the girls could meet Belle and the other characters. They were so excited! They both really enjoyed the show and seemed totally fascinated throughout.

Once inside the gym, the first character we came to was Chip and Sofia said "You were really great in the show. Where is your mom?" and the girl proceeded to answer where her real mom was and then realized that Sofia meant Mrs. Potts! We walked around and Olivia was totally taken with all the "princesses" but especially Belle. Sofia wanted to talk with Lumiere, Cogsworth and Gaston. It was fun to walk around and see these high school kids who have such a presence and acting ability and talk to them. The boys stayed in character, which was really cute while Belle and the other princesses didn't. Both girls had so much fun meeting everyone and being so close to the actors. We left and said goodbye to Annie and headed home. By the time the girls were in bed it was 10pm but so worth the slow morning the next day!

The full cast at the end of the show

Sofia and Olivia checking out Lumiere's "candles"

With Lumiere!

With Belle. Olivia LOVED her dress!

With Annie and Mrs. Potts

Olivia with one of the "princesses" as she calls them

With the Beast/Prince

The girls with Gaston. I loved that he stayed in character

Olivia with Wardrobe

The girls with Cogsworth