Event

Beauty and the Beast

WWU - Western Washington University

Story

The story follows a young prince who falls under a curse by an Enchantress, as punishment for his selfishness and cruelty. Now a hideous beast, the prince must learn to love and earn their love in return, before the last petal of an Enchanted Rose falls. Should he fail, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

Productions

Beauty and the Beast premiered in a joint production of Theatre Under The Stars and Disney Theatricals at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas, from November 28, 1993, through December 26, 1993.

The musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 18, 1994 and ran there until September 5, 1999, transferring to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 11, 1999, with an official opening date of November 16, 1999. The musical closed on July 29, 2007 after 46 previews and 5,464 performances, and is Broadway's eighth-longest running production in history (As of August 2011). The production holds the record of being the longest running production at both the Palace Theatre, where it opened, and the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it closed its Broadway run.

The Broadway production closed to make way for Disney's next musical venture, The Little Mermaid. With Disney set to open its Broadway version of The Little Mermaid on November 3, 2007 at the time, it was believed that having two Disney film of the same style I.E. Princesses on Broadway at the same time would divide audiences and cause competition between the two shows. At this point, Disney also had three other shows running at the same time: The Lion King, Tarzan, and Mary Poppins.

The West End production opened at London's Dominion Theatre on April 29, 1997 and closed on December 11, 1999. It won the Olivier Award as Best New Musical for 1998.