Beauty and the Beast - 1997 - West End Articles Page 8

The MAC Award-winning Piano Bar Live! continues this Tuesday, July 21st at 7:15 pm ET, with this week's Guest Host Michael Orland and featuring Ashley Argota, Dan Bauer, The Bleam Sisters, Hadiza Dockeray, Robin Lyon, Julie Sheppard, Nancy Timpanaro, Peter Allen Vogt, Mystery Guests & MORE!.

Tony Award nominee Susan Egan is happy at home with her family, but when she is at work she is also happy with that family. She's one of the lucky ones, and Stephen Mosher asks the questions that show that luck has nothing to do with it: Susan Egan makes the choices that bring about happiness.

Films from throughout cinematic history have been brought to the Broadway stage for years. Which shows do you pick in each decade?

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.

Visit our list of the best musicals & shows you can watch from home! We've got you covered with all the must-sees on streaming sites including Tony-award winners, favorite stars and top performances.

The Philly POPS kicks off Spring Break with a splash of Broadway magic at The Met Philadelphia in Disney's Broadway Hits.

The Museum of Pop Culture today announced the October opening of Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume in partnership with the Walt Disney Archives. Through more than 70 original items including ball gowns, sorcerers' capes, military uniforms, tiaras, and of course glass slippers, the exhibition immerses visitors into the world of Disney and shows how our understanding of its iconic characters is shaped through the artistry and creativity of its costumes. Watch for more information on their website.

Liz Callaway, who sang “Once Upon a December” in the 1997 movie “Anastasia,” shares what it's like to be a part of such a beloved film.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 40 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2020 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 15 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

We're heading to the Pridelands to get a behind-the-scenes look at the three hyenas of Disney's smash hit musical The Lion King: James Brown-Orleans (Banzai), Enrique Segura (Ed), and Bonita Hamilton (Shenzi) as the trio celebrates 5000 performances together on Broadway. Check it out with this video!

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.

On Wednesday, November 20th America's favorite quiz show®, Jeopardy!, will celebrate 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 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

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of the comedy/drama, a?oeVisiting Mr. Greena?? by Jeff Baron, on Monday, November 18, at 7 p.m. The cast includes Tim Jerome as Mr. Green and Charles Socarides as Ross Gardiner. The reading will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. Tickets are $20 each.

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.

Playwright Susan Eve Haar's new play SAUGERTIES has just opened at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Directed by Abigail Zealey Bess, SAUGERTIES stars Chad L. Coleman as Rog and Beau Garrett as Jen, a pair of couples in relationship crisis. I had the opportunity to ask a few quick questions of Beau Garrett on her personal journey to her theatrical board's debut in SAUGERTIES.

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).

Su nombre es sinonimo de cine y teatro musical. Ha creado las bandas sonoras de la epoca dorada de Disney como LA BELLA Y LA BESTIA o ALADDIN, y tambien musicales inolvidables como LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS o NEWSIES, por el que gano el Premio Tony.