Beauty and the Beast
Original Broadway production
Cover art of vocal selections song book
Music	Alan Menken
Lyrics	Howard Ashman Tim Rice
Book	Linda Woolverton
Theatre	Palace Theatre (1994-1999) Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (1999-present)
Opened	April 18, 1994
Producer(s)	Walt Disney Theatrical
Director	Robert Jess Roth
Choreographer	Matt West
Scenic designer	Stan Meyer
Costume designer	Ann Hould-Ward
Lighting designer	Natasha Katz
Originally starring	Susan Egan Terrence Mann
Official website
Playbill listing
IBDB profile

For other uses, see Beauty and the Beast (disambiguation).

Premiering on April 18, 1994, Beauty and the Beast is currently one of Broadway's longest running productions, devised and produced by Disney Theatrical, a fully owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (450x614, 28 KB)The official poster for Beauty and the Beast (theatrical production). ... Alan Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American Broadway and film music composer. ... Howard Ashman (b. ... Sir Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist for musical theatre, a radio presenter, television gameshow panelist and an author. ... The Palace Theatre, circa 1920. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 205 West 46th Street. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... New Amsterdam Theater in New York City Advertisement for Beauty and the Beast Walt Disney Theatrical Productions, informally known as Walt Disney Theatrical, is the stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company. ... Matt West is a choreographer for Beauty and the Beast (theatrical production). ... Susan Egan (b. ... Terrence Mann (born Terrance Vaughan Mann on July 1, 1951 in Kentucky) is a prominent singer and actor who has dominated Broadways stages for the past two decades. ... Beauty and the Beast can refer to: Beauty and the Beast, the traditional folktale Beauty and the Beast (1946 film) Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) Beauty and the Beast (1988 porn movie). ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The purpose built Lion King theater in Hamburg New Amsterdam Theater in New York City Advertisement for Beauty and the Beast Disney Theatrical, formally known as Walt Disney Theatrical Productions is the stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company. ... The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ...

Plot summary

One cold winter's night, an ugly old woman stumbles up to a prince's castle. She begs the prince for shelter from the cold, though she has only a single rose to give him as payment. Being selfish and heartless, the prince refuses her, simply because she is ugly. The old woman warns him that true beauty is within one's heart, not one's appearance. The prince refuses again and the woman reveals herself to be a powerful enchantress and, as punishment to the cruel and selfish prince, she transforms him into a beast. The servants in the castle are also transformed; they become tea cups, candles, items of furniture, and other household items. His castle becomes scary; the cherubs become gargoyles. This spell can only be broken if the beast learns to love another and receives her love in return. However, this must happen before the last petal of the enchantress's rose withers and falls, or he will remain a beast forever. As the years go by, The Beast falls into a depression, quickly becoming angry, as he wonders who could ever love a hideous monster. Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... Ugly is the opposite of Beauty Category: ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings - one generic, and several types of titles. ... Shelter can refer to several things: Look up shelter on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Species About 100, see text A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa, and the flower of this shrub. ... For other uses of the words enchantment, enchanter, or enchantress, see enchantment (disambiguation). ... Cruelty is indifference to suffering and even positive pleasure in inflicting it. ... Selfishness is a primary or sole concern with ones own welfare. ... A servant is a person who is hired to provide regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. ...

The "beauty" of the title, a girl called Belle, lives with her father Maurice in a small French village. Maurice is known for his Rube Goldberg-type inventions; the townspeople note Belle's beauty, but consider her odd because of her passion for books (most women, at the time, were believed to have to be brainless, in a sense, as quoted by Gaston in the line "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon, she starts getting ideas and thinking..."). Her beauty has attracted the attentions of local hunter and bodybuilder Gaston, but Belle considers him 'rude and conceited', and ignores him. A village is a human residential settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In music, an invention is a short composition with two or three part counterpoint. ... Hunting is, in its most general sense, the pursuit of a target. ... Bodybuilder Anders Graneheim (Sweden) Bodybuilding is the sport of developing muscle fibers through the combination of weight training, increased caloric intake, and rest. ... Gaston is a fictional character and main villain in Disneys Beauty and the Beast. ...

One day, Maurice decides to take his latest invention to a fair outside the village. On the way, he gets lost in the woods. Wolves chase him, and his horse Phillipe bucks him off in fright and fear. Maurice runs blindly through the woods and eventually comes to the beast's castle. The servants of the castle, still in the form of various household objects, look after him. That is, until the beast arrives. The beast has Maurice locked up as a prisoner for what he considers as "trespassing". A fair is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded function as carbon dioxide sinks, animal habitats, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earths biosphere. ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... Fear is an unpleasant feeling of perceived risk or danger, real or not. ... For other uses, see Fear (disambiguation). ... In law, trespass can be: the criminal act of going into somebody else’s land or property without permission; it is also a civil law tort that may be a valid cause of action to seek judicial relief and possibly damages through a lawsuit. ...

Belle, back in the village, politely but firmly resists Gaston's offer of marriage. Gaston explains to Belle that she is going to be his "little wife", have 6 or 7 handsome males ("strapping boys", to quote the character) like himself, and makes a number of other chauvinistic comments. She is astonished later to find her father's horse without its master. She traces her way to the castle with her father's horse. Once there, she offers to take the place of her father as the Beast's prisoner; and the Beast agrees and sends Maurice back. Maurice tries to tell people back in the town what has happened to Belle, but the villagers, including Gaston, think him insane and rebuff him, so he decides to set off to get her back on his own. A marriage is a committed relationship between or among individuals, recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. ... Marriage is a relationship that plays a key role in the definition of many families. ... Male chauvinism is the term for the belief that males are superior to females. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Beast, realizing that she could break the spell, allows Belle to have her own room and permits her to enter anywhere in the castle she likes, except the West Wing - the Beast's old room where he stayed as a human. However, he has lost whatever kindness was left after his transformation, and orders the other servents not to feed Belle when he fails to have her with him for dinner. Belle, still sad after losing her father forever, doesn't want anything to do with the Beast.

At the castle, the various dishes and accessories, including Lumiere the candlestick and Cogsworth the mini-clock, entertain their guest with a fancy French dinner and all the comforts a team of servants can provide (after the Beast orders them not to when he tried forcing Belle to come down to dinner with him). They are, of course, eager for Belle and the Beast to fall in love, so they can be turned human again. Unfortunately for them, Belle and the Beast don't get along very well (due to the chauvinism he is expliciting on her) and are constantly at each other's throats.

Having a tour of the castle, Belle curiously enters a passage she has never been in before, the forbidden West Wing. The room basically describes the Beast's sadness, with broken mirrors and a ripped-up picture of his human form. Entranced by the enchanted rose, she moves to take it, but the Beast returns upsetting her in his fury. She quickly leaves the castle, only coming across more wolves in the forest, leaving the Beast her only defender. As time goes by, Belle and the Beast eventually fall in love and over the following days the Beast becomes more human, showing more kindness as Belle 'sees a side of him she never saw before'. When he gives her a magic mirror that will show her anything she wishes to see, she requests to see her father and sees him sick and dying, as he foolishly tried to reenter the castle to bring her back. The Beast, in his love for her, does what he think is right and releases her to go rescue him, and she takes him back to their house in the village. However, Gaston arrives with a lynch mob to take Maurice to the asylum unless Belle agrees to marry him. Eager to prove her father sane, she ends up showing them an image of the Beast with the magic mirror. Lynching is murder (mostly by hanging) conceived by its perpetrators as extra-legal execution. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called a mental hospital or asylum) is a hospital specializing in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ...

Enraged and feeling betrayed, Gaston convinces the mob that the Beast is a threat and menace to the community and leads the mob to the castle to pillage it, rallying with the cry, "kill the Beast." Most of the mob is fought and driven off by the enchanted artifacts of the castle, but Gaston reaches the Beast and begans to fight with him, though the Beast, disheartened with a belief that Belle will never come back, doesn't fight back until Belle shows up. However as the Beast is about to finish off Gaston, he realises he can no longer find it in himself to kill anyone. As the Beast and Belle are reunited, Gaston stabs the Beast in the back with a dagger, however Gaston loses his footing on the roof and tumbles to from the castle. After Gaston is gone (whether or not he is actually dead remains unknown), Belle tells the Beast she loves him, and the spell is broken. The Beast turns into a handsome prince again, the scary castle becomes beautiful again (the gargoyles turn back into cherubs), and the enchanted artifacts of the castle are turned back into people. This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...

Trivia

• The show debuted on Broadway in 1994, three years after the release of the movie. It is currently the longest running American musical on Broadway, the sixth longest running show in Broadway history, and has played over 5,000 performances. The show's world premiere was at Houston's Theatre Under The Stars in November, 1993.
• The idea for the show came about from a particularly popular 25 minute-long Broadway-style performance of the film at Disneyland which opened in 1992 and a similar show at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park which opened concurrent to the film.
• The Broadway show features a new expanded script and brand new songs by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, who also wrote the lyrics for Disney's Aladdin.
• The show has been performed on London's prestigious West End, as well as Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico City, Seoul, Paris, Toronto, Berlin and Weston, MA.
• To make the characters of the Enchanted Objects believable on stage, their transformation storylines were changed. Instead of changing them immediately into objects, they are slowly but surely losing their humanity. If the spell is not broken before the last petal falls, they will fully become whatever object they are supposed to be.
• The feather duster and wardrobe characters of the film were given names and more fully developed characterizations. Linda Woolverton, who wrote the book of the musical as well as the film's screenplay, named the feather duster maid Babette and the wardrobe Madame de la Grande Bouche. It was the first time these supporting characters were ever named.
• In the past few years, Disney has begun to lease the rights for performing the show to traveling theatrical companies, and now the show is performed all over North America and Europe (although Disney will not allow the show to be performed within 50 miles of New York City).
• The first non-professional theatre in the world to perform the show was Theatre Cedar Rapids, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Subsequently Beauty and the Beast has become the most commonly performed show performed by community theatrical groups.

Disneyland Park is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, USA, 28 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. ... Disney-MGM Studios is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, USA. It opened on May 1, 1989. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... // West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland . Along with New Yorks Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the... The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, and since its opening it has become an international symbol of Sydney Sydney (pronounced ) is the state capital of New South Wales, located on the east coast of Australia. ... Tokyo ) , literally eastern capital, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and includes the highly urbanized central area formerly known as the city of Tokyo which is the heart of the Greater Tokyo Area. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F. or simply México, pronounced /mexiko/ in IPA) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. ... Seoul (Sŏul|서울) ) is the capital and largest city of South Korea (Republic of Korea). ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, as viewed from the Trocadéro This article is about the capital and largest city in France. ... Berlin is the capital city and a state of Germany. ... Seal of Weston, MA Weston is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

Musical numbers

Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken wrote the music for both the original film as well as new songs added to the production. Howard Ashman provided the lyrics for the film, and Tim Rice took over as lyricist of the Broadway production as a result of Ashman's death of AIDS in 1991. Portions of some of the show's most popular numbers – "Belle," "Something There," "Beauty and the Beast," "A Change in Me," and "Be Our Guest" – were included in the 2004 touring musical revue On the Record. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Alan Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American Broadway and film music composer. ... Howard Ashman (b. ... Sir Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist for musical theatre, a radio presenter, television gameshow panelist and an author. ... A lyricist is an author of song lyrics. ... The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A revue is a theatrical entertainment based around music with dancing and sketches or skits either on contemporary news or the venue or base of the theatre company concerned, such as college or medical school. ... The original touring cast of On the Record performing the finale. ...

*These songs written for the musical.

** "Human Again" was orginally written for, but eventually cut from the film. It was later animated and edited into the film for its 2002 IMAX and special edition DVD releases. Reefer Madness was issued in a Special Addiction as a reference to the cult films ironic appeal. ...

†The narration of the dialogue in the Prologue, instead of a live performance, is a recording played at the beginning of every Broadway and touring production of David Ogden Stiers, who provided the voices of the Narrator and Cogsworth in the film. In fiction, a narrator is a voice or character who tells the story. ... A prologue (Greek πρόλογος, from προ~, pro~ - fore~, and lógos, word), or rarely prolog, is a prefatory piece of writing, usually composed to introduce a drama. ... Historical records of events have been made for thousands of years in one form or another. ... David Ogden Stiers in his most famous role, as Charles Emerson Winchester III David Ogden Stiers (b. ...

‡"A Change in Me" was included in neither the film or the original Broadway production. Menken and Rice wrote the song for Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Toni Braxton when she entered the role of Belle in 1998. The song has been included in all performances since. Broadway's original Belle Susan Egan covered the song on her 2002 album So Far... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Toni Michelle Braxton (born October 7, 1968 in Severn, Maryland[1]) is a six-time Grammy Award winning American R&B singer. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Susan Egan (b. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Links to Performances

• Theatre Cedar Rapids Beauty and the Beast Production Photos
• Music Theatre Louisville
• Actor's Playhouse
• Chattanooga Theatre Centre