Interview: For BEAUTY AND THE BEAST'S Fergie L. Philippe, It's a Disney World
Disney musical plays Citizens Opera House through May 2
Growing up in Miami, actor and puppeteer Fergie L. Philippe took regular family trips to Disney World, where he developed his love for all things Disney.
Phillipe’s next visit to the Orlando theme park will have to wait but he probably won’t mind, because he is currently on the road playing the Beast in the first North American tour in 25 years of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” being presented by Broadway in Boston at Citizens Opera House through May 2.
Based on the 1991 Academy Award-winning animated feature film, which was in turn based on French author Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s adaptation of the 1740 fairy tale of the same name, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” features a score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton.
It tells the story of an unkind prince who has been magically transformed into an unsightly creature as punishment for his selfish ways. To revert to his true human form, the Beast must learn to love a bright, beautiful young lady whom he has imprisoned in his enchanted castle, and earn her love in return before it is too late.
The Walt Disney Company’s first stage musical officially opened at Broadway’s Palace Theatre on April 18, 1994, with a cast that included Terrence Mann as the Beast, Susan Egan as Belle, and Burke Moses as Gaston. Winner of the 1994 Tony Award for Best Costuem Design for Ann Hould-Ward, the production transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne in November 1999, running until 2007. Following Mann’s exit, the role of the Beast was played by Jeff McCarthy, Chuck Wagner, James Barbour, and, for its final eight years, Steve Blanchard. The show’s first national tour went on the road in 1995, with Boston’s Colonial Theatre one of its stops.
Now New York City-based Phillipe – who received college-level training in acting with multiple foundations in Meisner Technique and Uta Hagen – earned his BFA in Musical Theater from Elon University in North Carolina. His Broadway credits include “Hamilton,” as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, and “Camelot” as Sir Sagramore.
The Beast isn’t his first role in the Disney canon. He has previously appeared in Disney’s “Frozen” at Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) in Houston and has also been seen puppeteering Sebastian in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Muny in St. Louis.
By telephone recently from a Hartford tour stop, Philippe talked about playing the Beast and why Disney means so much to him.
When did you first become aware of “Beauty and the Beast”?
I wasn’t much of a fan of the animated film version, but I did love Robby Benson as the voice of the Beast. I think I really came to love the show when I saw it on tour when I was a college freshman in North Carolina. I was immediately drawn to the character of the Beast. I think Linda Woolverton did a beautiful job creating a sense of balance between the characters in the story.
What can audiences expect from your Beast?
They can expect everything they love about him from the movie. He’s large and he can be scary, but he can also be very funny. Disney’s creative team comes to see the show on the road periodically to make sure I’m not going too far, because I’m always pushing for him to be funnier as a way for the audience to empathize with him.
Do you relate to his selfish side at all and his subsequent transformation?
I relate to everything about the Beast. It’s all fun to play. In every part I play, I try to make my characters three-dimensional. And I understand, like everyone, how it is to reveal oneself. The Beast has chosen to take a position removed from the rest of society. He separated himself because of his appearance when he became a Beast. He’s since become so submerged that he doesn’t seem even to care that he has a castle full of servants.
What’s it like playing such an iconic character?
It’s great. I mean who wouldn’t love playing such a well known character? When I’m in my street clothes and I come out of the stage door and hear a child’s voice yell out, “Hi, Beast!” I know I’ve got them and that they really enjoyed the show.
What’s your favorite song from the show?
I have two, the Beast's song, "If I Can't Love Her," and also “Human Again” from the second act. I think it really gives the audience an honest moment with the objects in the show – including Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Madame de la Grande Bouche, Babette, and Cogsworth. It’s an upbeat number and it has great heart.
Has Disney World really seemed like the greatest place on earth for your whole life?
Absolutely, when I was a kid, my family would drive the three-to-four hours from Miami to Orlando so we could spend the day at Disney World. My parents would sit in the front of the car, of course, and my little brother, Farrell, and I would sit in the back seat. Along the way there, we’d stop at service plazas and I’d pick up copies of every Disney map and brochure I could find. My obsession with Disney World has never been a secret.
Photo caption: Fergie L. Philippe in a scene from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Photo by Matthew Murphy for Disney.
Videos