Beauty and the Beast Celebrates 12th Anniversary, April 18

Disney's Beauty and the Beast will celebrate its 12th anniversary on Broadway this Tuesday, April 18th, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Beauty and the Beast opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in 1994, where it played more than 2,250 performances, becoming the longest-running show ever to run at the legendary theatre. The production moved to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1999, where it is also the longest-running tenant at this theatre, having played 2,678 performances. On June 20th, Beauty and the Beast will hit yet another milestone--its 5,000th performance on Broadway.

The show is currently the 6th longest-running musical of all time. Seen in 13 countries, the total worldwide attendance for Beauty and the Beast stands at more than 25 million people.

The show, which features a score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, currently stars Steve Blanchard as the Beast, Ashley Brown as Belle, Grant Norman as Gaston, and, beginning on May 9th, "All My Children" star Jacob Young in his Broadway debut as Lumiere.

The performance schedule for Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street) is as follows: Tuesday at 7:00 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM. For tickets and information, please call Ticketmaster at 212-307-4747 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.