Beauty and the Beast Revival Coming To Broadway

[(Insert Clever Name)]

Mark S Hoebee, who was in the first production is directing it at papermill, he also directed newsies and a lot of other papermill shows. It might be the papermill production?

[asoftplacetoland]

Rachel Zelger for Belle! She even tweeted she would love to be casted. I would love for somebody around 18-25 to play Belle. Anybody older just sometimes looks out of place up there.

[BritCrit]

asoftplacetoland said: "Rachel Zelger for Belle! She even tweeted she would love to be casted. I would love for somebody around 18-25 to play Belle. Anybody older just sometimes looks out of place up there."

I don;t want to be ageist, but I think that Disney princess stars should be in the 18-25 range. When you cast middle-aged women like Patti Murin and Caissie Levy as characters half their age, it just feels a bit awkward...

And yes, I know Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel are also much older than Anna and Elsa, but there is a world of difference between voicing the characters and playing them on stage 8 times a week...

[GeorgeandDot]

I kind of hope they do some bizarre, radical reinterpretation of this musical. Saw the the recent tour, and it was really awful. Hopefully, they can find something interesting to do with this that doesn't just feel like a theme park show.

[cotous6]

I would love to see Ben Crawford or James Snyder as the Beast.

[Valentina3]

I... why? It is such an overdone storyline, and not a good one at that. I want Hercules on stage instead, hmpfh

[Dolly80]

Jake Gyllenhaal as Belle and Chris Evans as the Beast!

[Mike Barrett]

Josh Gad as Belle and make her a lesbo. Progressive!!!!

[OlBlueEyes]

Laura would be such a snooze fest in this role, and the trend of casting the typical ingenues in the regional market for this show over these last few years drives me crazy. 

I think a lot of people were surprised at her performance opposite Steven Pasquale in the Chicago Lyric Opera production of Carousel. It would be a terrible career move playing another Disney princess, but I guess young actresses don't turn down too many starring roles.

I like the fresh young face option.

Who knew back when The Mickey Mouse Club was ruling the airwaves and we were having our Mickey Mouse themed birthday parties wearing our Mickey Mouse ears that Disney one day would be such a force on Broadway. Is Star Trek next? That franchise has been around almost as long as Disney and its most recognized star, Patrick Stuart, will soon return to the role of Jean Luc Picard in a new television series.

[VintageSnarker]

JennH said: "Conclusion- I'm down only if they don't model it after the live action film and castfresh faces for this. There's NO reason to not do so. NONE."

Given how financially successful the film was, I'm assuming they want to carry something from the movie over into any possible revival. But I don't know what that would look like because you can't CGI something for the stage (well, projections but ew). Puppets is interesting. Something in between the cartoonish look of the original and what they've done with Lion King, Sven in Frozen, etc. It would probably be too costly and time-consuming but I'd be interested to see what the show would look like with either specific effects makeup or minimal makeup and intense costuming. At this point people know the characters. So maybe Mrs. Potts can just be an actress in a voluminous dress and the audience can imagine she's a teapot. Like, the Disney Dream version but without them having to hold the puppets/objects. 

[JennH]

^^ About the puppet idea...a good few regional theaters have done it before that travesty of a cruise line production and there's something about it I do not like...it comes off as odd and I'm still deciding why that is. Someone else said it's because life size teapots and candles don't read to the back of the theater. I also wonder if it's because it just reads as strangely abstract in a show that was conceived as pretty darn NON abstract. Lion King was conceived in abstract hence why it works. And that's a whole new level of puppetry, it's not just a cute little hand worked device, they're literally working an entire body apparatus in that show...

[Hot Pants]

I just came across a post saying that Gavin Lee should play Lumiere. I agree whole heartedly. He would be perfect!

[Jordan Catalano]

Christy Altomare would be a lovely Belle, but I’m not sure if she’d want to play another role like that.

[SchuylWERKsister]

Phillipa Soo

[CarmenA3]

Hot Pants said: "I just came across a post saying that Gavin Lee should play Lumiere. I agree whole heartedly. He would be perfect!"

Yes he would be - and btw, he IS playing Lumiere at the Pappermill production starting soon! I’ve got my tickets already :)

[RWPrincess]

Gavin Lee as Lumiere? I think I need to get tickets to see this at Paper Mill. 

[TheatreFan4]

If it is anything resembling that trash Cruise ship production I'm burning the theatre to the ground.

[CarmenA3]

RWPrincess said: "Gavin Lee as Lumiere? I think I need to get tickets to see this at Paper Mill."

I don’t see a cast listing on their site, but Gavin spoke about it on this interview: 

https://youtu.be/Z7HcyfQsbiY

[Hot Pants]

CarmenA3 said: "Hot Pants said: "I just came across a post saying that Gavin Lee should play Lumiere. I agree whole heartedly. He would be perfect!"

Yes he would be - and btw, he IS playing Lumiere at the Pappermill production starting soon! I’ve got my tickets already :)"

Then I guess that means I’m going to see the Papermill production

[David10086]

Patti Lupone as Belle!

Andrew Lloyd Webber as the Beast! 

[JennH]

Jordan Catalano said: "Christy Altomare would be a lovely Belle, but I’m not sure if she’d want to play another role like that."

I could live with this...nor could I imagine her saying no to this either. She VERY much a princess type but there something about her that's still different that the usual princess type that sets her apart. She's not totally homogenous ( like Laura) but she's too far out of the mold either...

Oh if Gavin is Lumiere at Papermill I NEED to see it...

[CATSNYrevival]

I’m cautiously optimistic. I’d love to see new design concepts if they’re good but I’ll be heartbroken if they cut “A Change in Me.”

[RWPrincess]

CarmenA3 said: "RWPrincess said: "Gavin Lee as Lumiere? I think I need to get tickets to see this at Paper Mill."

I don’t see a cast listing on their site, but Gavin spoke about it on this interview:

https://youtu.be/Z7HcyfQsbiY"

Thank you for posting this! I just bought my ticket. Last 10 min is where he discusses Paper Mill. I wonder if this was recorded before the revival was announced. 

 

[GreatBroadwayFan]

I am so excited! Beauty and the Beast is literally my favorite animated Disney movie and ever since it closed on Broadway, I have been waiting for a revival! I have already dreamcasted the show and some members for the creative team as well...

Belle: Laura Osnes (it's her dream role and she ageless tbh), Hailey Kilgore OR Kara Lindsay

Beast: Jeremy Jordan, Josh Groban OR Aaron Tviet 

Gaston: Ben Thompson

LeFou: Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Maurice: Joel Grey

Lumiere: Gavin Creel OR Gabriel Ebert

Cogsworth: Brooks Ashmanskas

Mrs. Potts: Audra McDonald

Director: Bartlett Sher, Kathleen Marshall OR Michael Arden

Set Designer: Anna Louizos (R&H's Cinderella)

Costume Designer: William Ivey Long

 

[RippedMan]

Let’s let Alex Timbers direct this!! Disney screwed themselves by firing him off Frozen.