Stage and Screen Star Stanley Tucci Boards BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Film as 'Cadenza'

Disney's live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST continues to add to its ranks! According to Variety, Stanley Tucci has joined the star-studded cast as 'Cadenza', a new character -- a grand piano described as "a neurotic maestro."

Set for a release on March 17, 2017, the beloved tale will be retold for the big screen with a modern live-action lens and the help of transformative CG magic. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star as Belle and the Beast/Prince respectively, and Luke Evans will play the role of Gaston. Emma Thompson has joined the cast as Mrs. Potts, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, and Kevin Kline as Belle's father, Maurice. Josh Gad will take on the role of Le Fou, and six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald will play Garderobe.

Tucci last starred on Broadway in LEND ME A TENOR. Before that, he appeared in FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE, which earned him a Tony nomination, as well as Broadway's EXECUTION OF JUSTICE, THE ICEMAN COMETH, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, THE MISANTHROPE and THE QUEEN AND THE REBELS. The actor recently starred in the Pivot drama FORTITUDE, which is returning for a second season and will soon appear on the big screen in SPOTLIGHT and THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2.

Eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards for the 1991 animated classic, will score the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which will feature new recordings of the original songs in addition to several new songs written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. Bill Condon will direct from a script by Stephen Chbosky, and the film will be produced by Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production begins in May at Shepperton Studios in London.

1991's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was an animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the traditional French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont,Beauty and the Beast is the 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Additionally, it is third in the Disney Renaissance period. Starring Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson, Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (O'Hara), a young woman who he imprisons in his castle. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury, who occupy supporting roles.

The film was a box office success, and has since garnered over $424 million worldwide. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was nominated for several awards, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; it also received five additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, and three separate nominations for Best Original Song. Ultimately, the film won Best Original Score, while Best Original Song was awarded to its title song. In 2002, Beauty and the Beast was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

In April 1994, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride