Tale As Old As Time

Beauty and the Beast will always be my all-time favorite movie: it was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was 4, nearly 5, and my mom was very pregnant with my sister. I remember the ballroom scene was supposed to be a big deal at the time because while the rest of the movie is hand-drawn animation, the ballroom itself is computer-generated.

In 1993, two years after Disney's release of the film, Beauty and the Beast made its debut on Broadway. It was nominated for many Tony Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design, and nominated for many Drama Desk Awards in 1994; the original London production was nominated for three Laurence Olivier Awards, of which it won one for Best New Musical in 1998.

All these years I've wanted to see the Broadway production, and last night I finally did and I was not disappointed. The acting, the effects, the lighting, the sets, the costumes, all of it is breath-taking and amazing. I love that they've given a bit more depth to the characters as well, with the servants slowly becoming household objects - at one point Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts discuss two other servants, one being vain and turned into a vanity and the other being dumb as a brick and turned into a brick wall, and eventually a wind-up key appears on Cogsworth's back, signifying all the more how time is running out to break the spell.

In the film, Belle asks her father if he thinks she's odd and that's the last you hear of it. In the production, Belle uses that as a way to connect with Beast, saying she understands what it's like to be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. Even Beast, after he scares Belle away from the west wing, quickly, if even too late to stop her, begins apologizing for scaring her. Before the ballroom sequence, Beast sits with Cogsworth and Lumiere,  listening to their advice on how to woo Belle, and he voices his fear of her laughing at him if he tells her how he feels about her - they tell him he has to speak from the heart and take the chance.

Darick Pead & Hilary Maiberger

There are also more songs including Human Again, which was originally cut from the film. Other added songs include: Me (Gaston), Home (Belle), How Long Must This Go On? (Beast), If I Can't Love Her (Beast), and A Change In Me (Belle).

I highly recommend seeing it if you can. You definitely get your money's worth.