By Dan Marois,Special to the Sun Journal

AUBURN – Community Little Theatre has dazzled audiences in recent years with grand-scale productions of “Phantom,” “Man of La Mancha” “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” Far exceeding what most community troupes might produce, these shows were top-notch, displaying professional quality in vocals, staging and the range of acting ability.

Community Little Theatre’s current production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is very good, but with some uneven performances and sluggish pacing, it never reaches the professionalism of those other efforts.

The show is a fairy-tale classic in which a young, innocent girl, Belle (Emily Flynn), finds herself captured in the castle of a mysterious Beast (Jason Bray), who is under a mystical spell.

The castle’s servants are also under the spell, finding themselves turning from human form to household objects. There’s Lumiere (Mitchell Clyde Thomas) the candlestick; Cogsworth (Dan Crawford) the clock; Mrs. Potts (Robbi Starnegg) the teapot and her son, Chip (Taylor Ouellette); Babette (Catherine Ouellette) the maid; and the boudoir dresser (Anne Caldwell).

The only way the spell can be broken is for Belle to profess her love for the Beast.

Outstanding theme song

Belle is also being pursued by the self-centered, chauvinist Gaston (Duane Glover) and his sidekick Lafou (Don Libby), who scheme against Belle’s father, Maurice (Phil Vampatella), to win over Belle’s affections.

Flynn is an elegant Belle with a charming musical theater voice and is wonderful in her scenes with Bray as the Beast. There’s a genuine magic here when the unlikely couple fall in love.

Starnegg is outstanding in the signature musical number, “Beauty and the Beast,” and Thomas leads the show’s most dazzling number, “Be Our Guest,” with strong vocals and a company kick line. Audiences will love Glover’s cartoonish antics as the overbearing Gaston.

Where the opening weekend performance fell short is in the details that matter most. Actors seemed unsure of their blocking. The pacing of lines and scenes was painfully slow, resulting in a show that clocked in at a bit less than three hours.

While the orchestra had a brilliant sound, it drowned out the vocalists onstage, who had their own problems with sound system malfunctions that left the audience straining to hear vocals and spoken dialogue.

And in what should be the most magical moment of all – the Beast turning into a handsome prince – there’s an onstage transformation that is less than inspiring.

A bit more attention

Folks will enjoy seeing their neighbors and friends portraying a wonderful story in the community production.

With a bit more attention to detail and some opening weekend performances under the performers’ belts, this production might rise to the professionalism of other Community Little Theatre favorites.

Please remember that while the story is a wonderful children’s tale, it might not be suitable for very young children. Better to rent the video at home than chance that a youngster will sit quietly for nearly three hours.

“Beauty and the Beast” continues with performances at the Great Falls Center for Performing Arts through Sunday. For tickets, people may call the box office at 783-0958

Dan Marois is an actor, writer and producer, and is the owner of Main Street Entertainment and Mystery for Hire. He can be reached at dmarois@pivot.net.

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