Beauty and the beast revival..WHEN?- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 2:49pm

emmadny - It's great to hear from a fan from Madrid! I've seen a few shows there including Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar. With the unexpected international success of Beauty and the Beast, Disney would be foolish not to revive it at some point. But since it closed in 2007, they will probably wait a while before a revival. I don't think they would want to repeat the mistake Les Miserables made in returning so quickly with the same production.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 2:51pm

No, not really. '13' will probably never be revived, unfortunately. Now, are we going to go back to the pathetic '13' responses every time I post?

Also, 'Les Mis' wasn't closed that long until it was revived.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 2:52pm

that's because LES MISERABLES is close to being a masterpiece.

BEAUTY is far, far, far from it.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 2:54pm

I see you're also going back to avoiding my questions.


Besides the point, Beauty and The Beast had many, many fans and good reviews, and excellent word of mouth and ran for 13 years! Maybe not a masterpiece in your mind, but it was a hit, no doubt about it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 3:11pm

that's because LES MISERABLES is close to being a masterpiece.

BEAUTY is far, far, far from it.

Apples and oranges. As far as family musicals go, the original production at the Palace was pretty close to a masterpiece. I mean, once you remove the Disney stigma and view the stage production objectively for what it was. It was quite beautiful. But then, I don't have a problem with Disney producing Broadway musicals (just like other producers do) or with musicals produced for families with children. For their first Broadway venture, Disney knocked it out of the ballpark with Beauty and the Beast.

[Jon]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 3:26pm

Here's the big difference: LES MIZ has never been released for amateur production, (except the "school edition) and only very few professional regional productions.

Thousands of stock companies, community theatres, high schools and even junior high schools are doing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. It's not like it's hard tofind a production of it playing somewhere.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 3:33pm

This video always gets me...
Saying Au Revoir To Beauty and the Beast

[ilovebroadway2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 3:44pm

I would doubt a B&B revival within, say, 3-5 years due mainly to the economy. Perhaps when Little Mermaid starts to die, then we'll start to hear talk of it (or when the economy improves). I think that Little Mermaid kind of replaced Beauty...no idea why though.

[EVIE]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 4:17pm

I'd much rather see Aida.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 4:23pm

I think closing this show was one of Disney's biggest mistakes

How?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 4:25pm

I'd much rather see Aida.

Yikes. Not me. I thought Aida was something of a mess.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 4:42pm

No doubt Beauty and the Beast will come back in about 10 years, to catch the next generation, before that I guess Cats will comeback, cannot be long for its 10 year anniversary of its closure, so in the next couple of years about right.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/11/09 at 4:42pm

If Cats comes back, it will probably incorporate more modern technology and a fresh approach to the costumes, makeup and choreography. It will moat likely be basically the same show, but a version 2.0 similar to Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. They know they will never be able to repeat the impact the show had when it originally opened in London and NYC.

Once Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins run their courses, Disney could easily bring back Beauty and the Beast and simply let it run with The Lion King again and still probably make a profit. While The Lion King has been Disney's largest theatrical success, Beauty and the Beast is still considered the pinnacle of Disney's animated films.

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 2/11/09 at 5:01pm

i agree closing the show was a big mistake

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/11/09 at 5:12pm

I don't think closing it was a mistake at all. Sales were down and the scaled-down production was getting rather dull and dusty. The show closed at the right time. And opened the door for new Disney ventures, for better or worse, while somewhat trying to appease the anti-Disney folks by not over-saturating Broadway with more than three productions running simultaneously (though the anti-Disney would prefer fewer, even if it meant the theatres would sit empty and dark, simply out of spite).

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 2/12/09 at 6:02am

Would love for that to be true!

[UglyBetty]

Posted: 2/12/09 at 2:26pm

I wish Disney would figure out how to make their looming Hunchback musical thats been testing around europe for a while. the score is fantastic.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/17/09 at 12:27pm

I loved the score for the Berlin production of Hunchback. The costumes were gorgeous and reverting back to the original ending of the book was a tremendous improvement. The only thing that really put me off was the staging. The blocks and projections got tiresome and repetitive after the first 15 minutes. And the placement of the intermission was rather awkward. But there definitely is a workable show in there.