Stars to Turn Out for 5,000th Performance of 'Beauty'

Disney's Beauty and the Beast will celebrate its 5,000th performance this evening, Tuesday, June 20, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Stars of ABC Daytime will turn out to celebrate the occasion and to welcome "All My Children" star Jacob Young to Broadway. Young recently made his Broadway debut in the production as Lumiere.

On the aisle tonight at the Lunt-Fontanne will be stars of ABC's "All My Children:" Susan Lucci, David Canary, Walt Willey, Cameron Mathison, Jeff Branson, Justin Bruening, Melissa Eagan, Colin Egglesfield, Connie Fletcher, Alexa Havins, Michael Knight, Alicia Minshew, Alec Musser, Charles Parnell, Marcus Patrick, Leven Rambin, Crishell Stause and Aiden Turner, and stars of ABC's "One Life to Live": Erika Slezak, Kathy Brier, Nathaniel Marston, Paul Satterfield, Kamar De Los Reyes, Kerry Butler and Forbes March.

Donny Osmond, who will return to Broadway this fall in Disney's Beauty and the Beast as Gaston, will also be in attendance. Also on hand for the milestone 5,000th performance will be director Robert Jess Roth and composer Alan Menken.

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 Broadway's longest running American musical and 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, Sarah Litzsinger as Belle, Grant Norman as Gaston, and Jacob Young as Lumiere, Jeanne Lehman as Mrs. Potts, Christopher Duva as Cogsworth, Jamie Ross as Maurice, Meredith Inglesby as Babette, Gina Ferrall as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. Trevor Braun and Alexander Scheitinger alternate the role of Chip. On September 19th, Donny Osmond will begin performances as Gaston.

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.

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