“Mommy, that’s Belle,” gasps a little girl dressed in a yellow ball gown, “It’s her!”...

The lights dim, the familiar strains of Alan Menkin’s heart-stirring score rise from the orchestra pit, and there is a stillness in the audience as the stage begins to reveal a handsome prince … and so the story begins. The lights and scenery change, as does the mood —

And then — there she is! It’s her! “Mommy, that’s Belle,” gasps a little girl dressed in a yellow ball gown, “It’s her!”

The way she sang, she spoke, she moved, Grace Lupoli was a princess...

From the moment Grace Lupoli, “Belle” opened her mouth and began to sing, I agreed with the excited little girl, still hugging her mother’s neck as she gazed adoringly at the real live princess just a few yards away from us. The way she sang, the way she spoke, the way she moved, Grace Lupoli was a Disney Princess — there was no doubt about it. Her voice was so beautiful and clear, and you just believed every word she uttered.