By Darryl Andrews. Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC) transformed wonderfully to an intimate theatre house this past Wednesday for the national touring production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”.
All Photos By Darryl Andrews
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped into a spell placed by an enchantress.
If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, before the last rose pedal falls, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self.
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” first released theatrically in 1991 is the inspiration for Disney’s first-ever stage musical, and the live-action version of the story persevered on Broadway for 13 years
and more than 5,000 performances.
National and international tours have run nearly nonstop, and the show has been seen by more than 35 million people in 21 countries.
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The Academy Award-winning score has music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, with other songs by Menken and Tim Rice.
The original creators of the Broadway production are together again for this new touring production! The play is directed by Rob Roth and choreographed by Matt West, with Costume Design by Ann Hould-Ward (Tony Award® winner for her work on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), Lighting Design by Natasha Katz, Scenic Design by Stanley A. Meyer, Sound Design by John Petrafesa Jr. and Music Supervision by Michael Kosarin.
Director Rob Roth: “It has been wonderful to bring the entire original design team back together to work on this new production of Beauty and the Beast. As a Director, it is rare to have the opportunity to revisit your work fifteen years later. Hopefully I’ve grown and developed as an artist, along with my collaborators, and we can bring 15 years of experience to this new production.
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“We have remained very close as a team over the years of producing the show around the world, and it has been so much fun getting together to re-explore and re-invent the show for this new NETworks tour. The theme of ‘Beauty’ is about seeing past the exterior into the heart of someone, and this is reflected in the design for the show, which is about transparency and layers, seeing past one thing and into another.”
The national “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” tour continues.
With files from beautyandthebeastontour.com