Magic Makes ‘Beauty’ Come Alive for Kids

Charles Perrault’s classic “Beauty and the Beast” is probably the most adapted story of the past decade. Each version, from Disney to television, has in one way or another maintained the one ingredient that has kept it alive for so many generations: magic.

Director Terri Miller Schmidt has done a sterling job of weaving a sense of magic throughout this Depot Playhouse youth-theater production.

Schmidt adapted her staging from a dramatization by William Glennon and has even managed to rise slightly above his talky, unbalanced script. What audience Glennon was writing for is unclear. His version seems too verbose and static for very young children, while at the same time being too simplistic for an older group.

It is, however, a pleasant thing to look at. Larry Watts’ inventive setting and the colorful costumes by Millie Fuller and Diany Marta are above average.

Leslie Holland’s choreography, though necessarily basic, is attractive, particularly the dances for Rose (as Beauty or Belle is called here) and the Beast, which condense the development of their relationship into terms children can comprehend.

The youngest members of the supporting cast (the company numbers 45) are fun to watch (do forest sprites really have itchy noses and kneecaps?). The teen-agers who play the central figures are able, often interesting in their interpretations and very funny.

Heather Sexton is delightful as Rose, balancing the delicate change in the heroine’s attitude toward her captor with ease.

The same able balancing of attitude is accomplished by Jason Lythgoe as the Beast, as his evil heart turns into a heart full of understanding and love.

Gregory D. Bird, as the nasty Prince who turns into the Beast and then delights Rose when he resumes his natural state, could tone down his performance just slightly to better effect, but otherwise is everything a Prince should be. Peter Martin Young is good as Rose’s feather-brained Poppa, and Kerry Lynn Whitney stands out as one of Rose’s younger siblings.

The dramatist has followed the lead of Jean Cocteau’s astonishing film version, giving life to various furnishings in the Beast’s castle, and it should be noted that John Pettersen Jr. is excellent as a pompous chair, and Audie Contreras and Brian Jonathon Van Amber are very funny as, respectively, a quizzical painting on the wall and a snooty hat rack.

*”Beauty and the Beast,” La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S Euclid St., La Habra. Fridays, 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, 2:30 & 7:30 p.m., Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends July 3. $6-$8. (310) 905-9708. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Heather Sexton Rose

Jason Lythgoe: Beast

Gregory D. Bird: Prince

Peter Martin: Young Poppa

Kerry Lynn Whitney: Paulette

Eric Solomon: The Page

A La Habra Depot Theatre production. Dramatization by William Glennon of the Charles Perrault fairy tale. Adapted and directed by Terri Miller Schmidt. Choreography: Leslie Holland. Set design: Larry Watts. Costume design: Millie Fuller, Diany Marta.