The effort to bring the Disney animated film “Beauty and the Beast” to Broadway received a boost from an unlikely source: New York Times theater critic Frank Rich.
In a 1991 end of year review, Rich — a founding editor of the 1970s alternative tabloid Richmond Mercury and nephew of legendary Richmond businesswoman and philanthropist Frances Lewis — wrote that the animated film was the best musical of 1991.
Boasting a score by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, “Beauty and the Beast” was a massive hit with audiences and critics alike, winning Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Taking place in 18th century France, “Beast” tells the story of a bookworm and cursed prince who fall in love just in time for the French Revolution to potentially behead them.
Months prior to Rich’s article, Matt West and others had met with Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner and Walt Disney Studios chair Jeffrey Katzenberg in the hopes of making a live musical version of “Beast” a reality.
“Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg both said absolutely not,” recalls West, reached by phone last week.
Disney had never mounted a Broadway musical before and given the seedier reputation of downtown Manhattan at the time and concerns that they wouldn’t make their money back, the studio heads decided that the Mouse House shouldn’t have a footprint on Broadway.
But the Frank Rich column changed all that, and West soon found himself choreographing the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast.” That staging was a massive commercial success, running for 5,461 performances over 13 years.
West has returned to direct and choreograph a new staging of the show that began its U.S. tour last June; his “Beast” comes to the Altria Theatre on March 3 for a six-day stint.
“It’s been a joy to return to something that’s so near and dear to me and give it new legs,” says West. “We reimagined this. It’s still the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ people know, but it’s reimagined from top to bottom.”
Among other changes, “Be Our Guest” has been transformed into an 11-minute production number. And, after noticing that many young girls attending the show were wearing glasses, West decided that Belle should wear glasses when she reads.
“People see themselves in Belle,” West says. “She’s a positive role model. It has a great moral, which is don’t judge a book by its cover.”
When the film version came out in 1991, West says Belle differed from most prior Disney princesses.
“She’s not waiting for her prince,” he explains. “She wants her own adventure, her own life. She wants to create her own future, and that’s modern.”
West lauds the score of “Beauty and the Beast,” which was one of the last that lyricist Howard Ashman worked on before his death from AIDS in 1991. Other Menken/Ashman collaborations include “Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Little Mermaid” and some songs from “Aladdin.”
“It’s got an incredible score, hummable tunes,” says West of “Beast.” “People walk out humming ‘Be Our Guest.’”
For West, directing and choreographing for Disney is something of a return to form. A native of the Los Angeles area, West began his career as a dancer for Disney at the age of 13. He portrayed Peter Pan for them and was one of The Kids of the Kingdom, a song-and-dance group that would perform at Disney parks and on TV.
He also appeared on Broadway as Bobby in “A Chorus Line” and resurrected the role for the film version directed by Richard Attenborough. While he’s since worked for Warner Bros. and Cirque du Soleil among other employers, Disney has remained a throughline of his career.
West invites audiences to be his guest at the Altria.
“It’s just a show full of love,” he says of “Beast.” “In this world that we all live in now, you can’t have enough of that. I’ve tried to infuse it with positive messages, messages of understanding, forgiveness and love.”
Broadway in Richmond’s “Beauty and the Beast” plays March 3-8 at the Altria Theater, 6 N. Laurel St. For more information visit beautyandthebeastthemusical.com.
