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

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.

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!

"I had been looking for a reason to come back, and do another show here, so I was pleased when my managers sent me to audition for TREASURE ISLAND [A MUSICAL ADVENTURE]. Doing new work is always great; I love that process where I get to be more involved in the actual creation." Broadway star Aaron Ramey is explaining how he has come to find himself back in Maine to play the plum role of Long John Silver in MSMT's East Coast premiere of Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark's new epic musical which plays at the Pickard Theater from June 26 - July 13, 2019. Ramey had been an intern in 1997 while he was still a student at Otterbein University. "Ironically," he notes, "that was the summer of renovatios and MSMT performed at Crooker Auditorium, so this production will actually be my first time on the Pickard stage." He recalls the shows from that season: "I was in SWEENEY TODD, CAROUSEL, and TOMMY. I wasn't a good enough dancer to be in THE MUSIC MAN, but I did get to carry the pool table across stage, and in A CHORUS LINE, I played trombone in the pit," he laughs. "And then, too, I knew Michael Nigro [who plays Jim Hawkins] from a workshop we had both been in in New York, and he had urged me to audition."

After leading the company for 22 years, Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr has announced he will retire in June 2020 after celebrating the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's upcoming 50th Anniversary Season.

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.

Currently celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary, The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre is set to end the season with a bang this summer when the smash-hit musical Mamma Mia! arrives at the theatre. With over 60 million people having seen this worldwide phenomenon, for its 25th Anniversary Season, Way Off Broadway is bringing this international sensation to the Frederick stage for the very first time.

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).

Producer Stephen Gabriel/Work Light Productions released today a music video in anticipation of the 50th Anniversary North American tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical Jesus Christ Superstar.  The Olivier Award-winning production first premiered in 2016 at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London.  The North American tour launches in Austin, TX in the fall of 2019 and celebrates fifty epic years since the original rock opera concept album release that began this musical theatre phenomenon.

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!