Looking for something different to do with your mom this weekend?  I found the perfect thing.  Thursday I took my daughter and mom to see Beauty and the Beast at Straz center, and a great time was had by all three generations!

I seem to be getting hooked on musicals, but with all of the great shows at The Straz Center can you blame me?  Beauty and the Beast is a story told almost entirely through song, and the Broadway musical includes songs that were not in the Disney movie which I loved.  I spent the evening trying unsuccessfully to decide on my favorite song.

You don’t know how it could be so hard to decide?  Take a look at some of what I had to choose from!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Qb72ddIBE?rel=0]

My first favorite? Gaston of course. All of the girls in town and all of the tavern patrons joined in for a rowdy, beer mug clinking good time.  All in the name of cheering Gaston up of course.  So that was my favorite.

But then they did Be Our Guest.  The entire stage was filled with happiness and joy, colors and dancing. Confetti even.  So that was my favorite.

But then Mrs. Potts (Emily Jewell) sang Beauty and the Beast while standing quietly at the edge of a nearly dark stage and blew me away.  It’s amazing that one person can have such a presence. So then…

I decided it was OK to like them all.  And that’s my final answer.

So, moving on.  There were two other parts that really struck me. The first were the scenes in the woods. They were amazingly done, the woods were foggy and creepy and the wolf attack scenes were pretty awesome.  Oh, and the night time scenes with the stars and moon were also pretty amazing.  But that wasn’t supposed to be part of my 2. So I guess make that 3 parts?

The other was the rug during Be Our Guest.  I can’t even imaging being dressed as a rug while flipping around the stage and singing. Talent much? There’s a little clip of him at about the 15 second mark in the video I embedded above, but that doesn’t really do him justice.  I guess you’ll have to go see for yourself!

I won’t subject you to my inner dialogue about which was my favorite character.  You’re welcome.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is playing at the Straz Center through May 10th. Take a look on Straz Center’s site for tickets and times.  Tickets to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast would make a perfect mother’s day gift for a lot of moms out there!

I received 2 tickets to Pippin as a member of Tampa Bay Bloggers and their partnership with the Straz in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own, of course.

Last Thursday we decided to go to the Straz Center and see Return to the Forbidden Planet. Cheesy Sci-fi?  I’m so in!  It was my first time going to the Straz Center and I was really impressed by the area.  There were lots of places to eat nearby and a library right across the way which you could get to through a glass walkway that made me think of Stephen King’s IT.  Wasn’t there a glass walkway to the library in that book?  But this one is up a floor or two.

Anyways, we got there early and were walking through said walkway when I noticed something odd.

Um, are those Storm Troopers?  Yes, yes they are.  We had time before the show started so we decided to go check it out.  Actually, I would have totally been late to go check Storm Troopers out.  So off we go and guess what?  They were there for Forbidden Planet, and so was Darth Vader! Seriously cool. I mean, you know, to people like me.

Turns out pretty much everyone was there! I even got a picture with Spider-Man to send to my nephews, making me the coolest aunt ever. No, this isn’t it.

After stopping at the bar for a rum and coke (not something you can do everywhere in Florida!) we went in to see the show.

It’s a lot of the Tempest, a lot of Forbidden Planet, a lot of 50’s rock, and a lot of fun!  I was pretty amazed at how much fun we had, they had the entire audience laughing most of the night.  And 4 days later I’m still singing songs from the show.  (Gloria, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Young Girl… )

Did I mention the space monsters?

Even in space the Monster Mash is all that.

If you are in the Tampa area and you are a fan of Shakespeare / sci fi / music / theater or fun  you should really go check them out. You can see the times and prices and get your tickets here. The show is Thursday through Sunday until July 6th.

I was given two tickets to see The Forbidden Planet in exchange for an honest review.

So, how about you?  Have you been to the Straz Center yet?  Have you seen Return to the Forbidden Planet anywhere else?  And the all important question, do you know the walkway in IT that I’m talking about?