Beauty and the Beast 1997 - Articles Page 5

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts- Managing Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, begins the new year with the world premiere Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and written with Richard Curtis. Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber begins performances Thursday, January 30, 2020, and will continue through Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ). JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the major sponsor of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2019-2020 season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank. Opening Night is Sunday evening, February 9, 2020 at 7:00pm.

On Wednesday, November 20th Jeopardy! celebrated the 25th anniversary of Disney on Broadway with a category devoted to five clues about DOB's stage adaptations, and accompanied by production footage.

The first clue that ANASTASIA was going to be different than what I expected was a note on the title page reading, “Inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures.” Plural? A savvy journalist, I quickly asked Siri to bring up the imdb page for “Anastasia”. Turns out Fox made ANASTASIA twice, the 1997 animated off-brand Disney princess movie and a 1957 film that scored Ingrid Bergman's second Oscar and marked Helen Hayes' transition to the big screen. And it turns out the musical version has more in common with LES MISERABLES and RAGTIME than BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Gone is the hell-wizard Rasputin, his talking fruit bat sidekick, and the singing demon caterpillars. At intermission, I asked my third grade niece, Adalyn, how she was liking it. “It's awesome…it's real people, like no Beast or anything. No animals.” We decide that Disney staged musicals are great but more it's more impressive when you can achieve the magic without a story that departs from reality. ANASTASIA is historical fiction hypothetical. It poses a “what if…?” that a daughter of the last czar of Russia (The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna) escaped when the czar's family was executed in 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia did, in fact, escape. In 2007, DNA testing confirmed the remains of all four Grand Duchesses were in the Imperial grave. In this version, Terrence McNalley's book follows Anastasia's rediscovery of her identity after surviving the attack on her family and sustaining some plot enabling amnesia. Renamed “Anya” she grows up and makes a life in post-Revolution Russia. Anastasia's grandmother, the Dowager Empress (in a staggeringly moving performance by Joy Franz) has fled to France and offered a cash reward for anyone escorting the rumored alive Anastasia to Paris. The wily duo Vlad (Edward Staudenmayer) and Dmitry (Jake Levy) pull a My Fair Lady style makeover on Anya to collect the Dowager's prize. They are pursued by Gleb (Jason Michael Evans). A Soviet officer drawn to Anya romantically but tasked with finding and eliminating the last Romanov. Anya's memory becomes somewhat coaxed back, but the Dowager has stopped seeing Anastasia claimants after too much heart-break from countless frauds. It sounds dark, but with high-tech digital scenery and inspired performances across the cast it is delightful. Stephen Flaherty (Music) and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics), responsible for bringing us RAGTIME, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, LUCKY STIFF, as well as the Oscar nominated songs carried over from the animated film. ANASTASIA is a perfect context for this pair. “Stay, I Pray You” (my favorite song of the evening) is evocative of RAGTIME's “New Music”. The two songs literally race my heart in a strangely specific way. My real test of a National Tour at Gammage is how fast I get the music playing in my car on the way home. At ANASTASIA I was already finding, “Stay, I Pray You” walking through the parking lot. The rest of the score is similarly haunting. Lila Coogan, as Anya/Anastasia, powers through the score with nuance, clarity, and passion. Tari Kelly, as Countess Lily, and Stadenmayer (Vlad) were Adalyn's favorite performances and I have to agree. This incredibly gifted pair take the “triple threat” designation (singer, dancer, actor) and go quadruple with the addition of flawless comic timing. The choreography by Peggy Hickey is masterful. It somehow combines inventive and traditional throughout and the ten-minute slice of “Swan Lake” infused into “Quartet at the Ballet” is the highlight of the second act. It's a fun-size version that gets an under-represented art form onto the plate. This kind of trope often means the plot putting the plot on hold. But here, it is the connective tissue between Anya, Dmitry, the Dowager, and Gleb as they each bring us up to speed heading into the show's climax. Ultimately, the show's success comes from applying a higher artistic standard to the “previously-animated-film-now-theatrically-staged” genre. It cashes in on the name draw of the 1997 film then gives the viewer something much more enriched than what they think they are coming to see.

Laguna Playhouse announces the final cast and creative team to join acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (a?oeTitanic,a?? Native Gardens, Barbeque), as a?oeQueen Eleanora?? and Gregory Harrison (a?oeTrapper John, M.D.,a?? Broadway's Chicago, Steel Pier), as a?oeKing Henry IIa?? in THE LION IN WINTER

Today's top stories: The Lightning Thief officially opens tonight, and more!

Las Vegas Neon Museum welcomes 'frightmaster auteur' Tim Burton and his phantasmagorical, wide-eyed-sans-irides, zany creations, now on display amidst retired casino marquees, in an over-the-top exhibition, 'Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum,' generously funded in part by the Engelstad Foundation through February 15, 2020.

Disney has officially been making magic on Broadway for 25 years! As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Disney on Broadway is partnering with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS to put on a special benefit to celebrate the momentous occasion. We're getting in on the celebration by looking back at Disney's show-stopping productions, from classics like Beauty and the Beast and Newsies to current favorites like Aladdin and Frozen. Check it all out!

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts & Mccoy Rigby Entertainment present the West Coast Premiere of GRUMPY OLD MEN: THE MUSICAL, book by Dan Remmes, music by Neil Berg, lyrics by Nick Meglin, (Adapted from the Warner Bros. motion picture written by Mark Steven Johnson), additional orchestrations by Phil Reno, choreography by Michele Lynch, musical direction by Benet Braun and direction by Matt Lenz.

It's the turn of the century when we meet the bold and beautiful widow Dolly Levi who has found herself in the role of matchmaker. Working to pair her latest client, the miserly half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder, with the young Irene Molloy, proves interesting as Dolly finds herself eager to connect with Horace (and Horace's money).

Which Broadway shows are the longest running of all time? Which current Broadway productions have a chance of breaking the top ten? We've got the full list!

The Walt Disney Company UK and Ireland has today announced the principal company for the UK and Ireland tour of the landmark musical THE LION KING which will open in Bristol in September 2019 before moving on to Edinburgh in December 2019. Further cities will be announced in due course.

During Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM), Disney on Broadway is putting the spotlight on the Asian American and Pacific Islander cast members of its hit musicals THE LION KING, ALADDIN, and FROZEN.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy Monday! Kick off a brand new week by catching up on the latest Broadway news!

In partnership with Disney Theatrical Productions, Music Theatre International is now licensing Frozen JR.

Last night (Friday, January 11, 2019) Disney Theatrical Productions hosted 'Disney Theatrical at 25: The Stars Align' at BroadwayCon in Manhattan. The lively panel was made up of some of the stars who created these indelible shows and characters in their original productions. Moderated by Disney Theatrical Productions head Thomas Schumacher, the panel was a fascinating and hilarious discussion filled with behind-the-scenes stories. Panelists included Christian Borle (Tony®-winning Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher), Ashley Brown(title role in Mary Poppins), Merle Dandridge (Kala in Tarzan), Susan Egan (Belle in Beauty and the Beast), James Monroe Iglehart(Tony-winning Genie in Aladdin), and Patti Murin (Anna in Frozen).

BroadwayCon announces Disney Theatrical Productions will host  "Disney Theatrical at 25: The Stars Align." Join this lively panel made up of some of the stars who created these indelible shows and characters in their original productions.

Three unbelievably talented, real ORIGINAL Broadway Princesses singing the petticoats off every beloved princess song in the book! We're throwing a magical musical event and you're invited!

Disney Theatrical Productions will hold open auditions for its current and future productions of the award-winning musicals Aladdin, Frozen and The Lion King in cities across North America this winter. Casting representatives from all three productions will hold open auditions for local performers in Chicago November 9-11, 2018 at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; Honolulu January 19, 2019 (location TBA); and Los Angeles February 15-17, 2019 at Downtown Dance and Movement.

Seven-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton will be taking her “As Long As I Live” tour on the road in support of her current “Sex & Cigarettes” album.  The tour begins on January 19 in Columbia, SC and will make a stop at Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 8 p.m. Special guests for this concert will be SWV, known for their string of top R&B hits selling more than 15 million albums and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds' award–winning, multi-faceted performer, writer and producer credited for of such megastars as TLC, OutKast, Usher, and Toni Braxton. Toni's “Sex & Cigarettes” album entered the charts in the Top 5 and the “As Long As I Live” single was #1 on the charts for nine weeks. See Toni Braxton, SWV and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds' only at the Prudential Center.

5-STAR THEATRICALS opens its 2018-2019 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of SHREK THE MUSICAL

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Ain't Too Proud opens its pre-Broadway run in Toronto tonight, and more!

5-STAR THEATRICALS opens its 2018-2019 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of SHREK THE MUSICAL

Music Theatre International Australasia, in partnership with AMICI Trust in New Zealand and producers Shane Bransdon and Daniel Stoddart, founders of OzTheatrics in Australia, and in collaboration with iTheatrics from the United States, will present the third annual Junior Theatre Celebration Australia in Newcastle, Australia on Friday 26th & Saturday 27th October and the second Junior Theatre Celebration New Zealand in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd November 2018.

Laura Tyrer will join the West End cast of CHICAGO at the Phoenix Theatre, playing the role of Velma Kelly from Monday 24 September through to Saturday 6 October 2018. Laura joins Alexandra Burke as Roxie Hart, Duncan James as Billy Flynn, Mazz Murray as Mama Morton and Paul Rider as Amos Hart.