Show Report

I chose to pick the show Beauty and the Beast. When I was a younger, I would always want to watch the movie the Beauty and the Beast. It has always been one of my favorite movies ever since. I have never had the opportunity to see the musical, but would absolutely love to in the near future. The movie taught me not to judge a book by its cover or basically not to judge a person depending on how they look or act. As a result, I have made so many friends because I like them for who they are.

Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book written by Linda Woolverton. The musical is based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. It ran on Broadway for 5,464 performances between 1994 and 2007, becoming Broadway’s sixth longest running production. The production holds the record of being the longest running production at both the Palace Theater (where it opened) and the Lunt-Fontanne Theater (where it closed its Broadway run). The musical has grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide and played in thirteen countries and 115 cities. Produced by Disney Theatrical, a fully owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, the show debuted on Broadway three years after the release of the movie.

The original cast consisted of Terrence Man (the beast), Susan Egan (Belle), Burke Moses (Gaston), Gary Beach (Lumiere), Heath Lamberts (Cogsworth), Tom Bosley (Maurice), Beth Fowler (Mrs. Potts), Stacey Logan (Babette), Eleanor Glockner (Madam de la Grande Bouche), Kenny Raskin (Lefou), Brian Press and Michael Korniewics (Chip), and Gordon Stanley (Monsieur D’Arque).

Beauty and the Beast starts out when a handsome but conceited prince treats a beggar woman poorly. The woman turns out to be a beautiful enchantress and turns the prince into a beast. The prince’s staff is all transformed into objects that deal with their professions. The prince is given a magical mirror to view the outside world. To break the spell, he needs to learn to love a person for who they are, and get her to love him before a magical rose loses its petals. Meanwhile in a nearby village, a beautiful young bookworm, Belle, feels lonely and out of place. She lives with her eccentric but kind father, Maurice. Soon, Maurice goes off to compete at an investors’ fair but gets lost in the woods and ends up a prisoner at the beast’s castle. Belle eventually finds the castle and makes a deal with the beast to let her father go in return for her staying there with the beast. As the beast’s inner kindness slowly reveals itself, Belle grows to be in love with him. However, a self-centered and overly-masculine suitor from Belle’s village, Gaston, takes a posse to save Belle from the beast. Gaston ends up stabbing the beast. Luckily, when Belle rushes to the beast and expresses her love for him, he comes back to life again as a handsome prince.