It was a nice opening to The Muny's 92nd season last night with "Beauty and the Beast." The Muny does something better than any other theatre in the world, I think. They know how to fill the stage with big voices, little children, great big sets and amazing costumes. Add their spectacular orchestra, and the famous "Be Our Guest" number has never been better.

You probably already know the plot from the hugely successful Disney animated film. A bookish young girl doesn't fit in in her little village; her inventor father doesn't either. And, just past a forest teeming with wolves, a spellbound beast and castle full of servants are outcasts as well. They've been cursed, turned into candlesticks, clocks, teapots and feather dusters, and their master is a hideous creature. The only way to break the spell is for the Beast to fall in love and be

loved in return. But, when the Beauty meets the Beast, he's hardly marriage material. Eventually, of course, they fall in love, and all's well that ends well.

James Clow as the Beast has a huge, beautiful voice. Sarah Darling plays Belle a little more old-school Disney princess than I would like (more waifish, less spunky than her contemporary counterparts). Nicholas Rodriguez enjoys the heck out of Gaston, Belle's arrogant, muscle-bound suitor. And it doesn't hurt that he gets the best lyrics in the aptly named song "Gaston." And Jeb Brown and Lara Teeter have a ball as Cogsworth the clock and Lumiere the candlestick.

How can you not love this story? And those Disney folks know how to write great songs. My only issue is with the concept of turning the animated film into a stage musical. The joy of the movie was the talking clock, the dancing crockery, these inanimate objects that are partially human. But, when you're dealing with actual humans, live, right in front of you, no matter how wonderful the work of the costumer, you know they're 100% human from the get-go, so that transformation gets lost.

But "Beauty and the Beast" at The Muny is still a wonderful evening for little girls who love princesses and for us big girls, too.