Emily McClanathan

Ducat makes an endearing Buddy, with childlike enthusiasm that comes off as more believable than Ferrell’s performance, thanks in part to his youthful look and mannerisms. Buddy’s complete oblivion to innuendo adds a note of adult humor to this overall family-

This touring cast features plenty of Broadway talents, including Voytko, a longtime Chicago actor who made headlines in 2021 by stepping in for Sutton Foster last-minute to star opposite Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man.” The most touching casting choice, though, is the late Angela Lansbury as the voice of the prologue narrator. The beloved stage and screen actress, who voiced Mrs. Potts in the original film, died in 2022, shortly after the closing of the West End revival on which this tour is based. When Lansbury’s familiar voice delivers the show’s opening line, “Once upon a time, in a faraway land,” there’s a bittersweet sense of the baton being passed to younger generations of actors, entrusting them with this tale as old as time.