“I’d rate it a 10″ were the first words out of my 10-year-old daughter’s mouth as we exited the Winspear Opera House after the opening night of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (playing through July 25). Who am I to argue with her concise review?

Beauty and the Beast started life as the hit 1991 Disney film of the same name.

The move from screen to stage was effortlessly done with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton. With seven new songs for the stage production, Beauty proved to be a Broadway smash hit. Running from 1994 to 2007, it became Broadway’s sixth-longest running production in history.

Photo Credit - Peter Coombs

Rob Roth directs this fourth national tour with mixed results. I was amazed by the detail and beauty of the scenic design done by Stanley Meyer. Using limited stage space and impressive “set choreography,” they created a captivating opening number. In addition, the costumes throughout the show were of the highest quality. I would expect nothing less from a Disney production!

Need a break? Forgotten how to smile? Has the word, “Wow” disappeared from your repertoire? Then have I got a deal for you! Grapevine’s Runway Theatre will be presenting Once Upon a Mattress through August 1. I had the pleasure of being in the audience on opening night to see how director Andy Baldwin would handle the 50-year-old script.

This production was the Broadway debut of household name and one of America’s favorite funny ladies, Carol Burnett. She set the standard with her performance as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone. The script takes a satirical twist to the old tale, “The Princess and the Pea.” The kingdom is under a horrible law established by Queen Aggravain that states, “Throughout the land no one may wed, ’till Dauntless shares his wedding bed.” Dauntless (the Drab) is the coddled, spineless and, well … drab son of Aggravain and the mute King Sextimus.

Photo Courtesy of Runway Theater

This law has driven the kingdom to despair. There is truly an opening for a Princess here. The production picks up the tale with the 12th princess to be tested by the pesky Wizard under the manipulative auspices of the Queen. Princess #12 (Audrey Seifert) does quite well with the questions dealing with the history of St. George and the dragon … until the last question. Sadly, she was thwarted because she did not know the middle name of the daughter-in-law of the best friend of the blacksmith who forged the sword that killed the beast. Now that the stage is set, prepare to be introduced to the indefatigable Princess Winifred!