Bamigboye: BEAUTY & THE BEAST UK tour taps Lansbury, Lee, and leads

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/29/21 at 5:59pm

https://twitter.com/bazbam/status/1387888276703490049?s=21



Ever just as sure ... happy to report @CourtneyJStapes and @EmmanuelKojo_ will play title roles in @BeautyMusical U.K. tour which now starts @BristolHipp on August 25 . Disney also cast #GavinLee as Lumiere with lots more tap in #BeOurGuest number.

Ever a surprise... #AngelaLansbury will record a prologue which will be played at every performance on the @BeautyMusical U.K. tour kicking off @BristolHipp August 25 starring @CourtneyJStapes & @EmmanuelKojo_ in title roles & #GavinLee as Lumiere.

Updated On: 4/29/21 at 05:59 PM

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 4/29/21 at 6:09pm

Beautiful pairing!

[darreyl102]

Posted: 4/29/21 at 6:21pm

For a split second I excitedly clicked this article thinking that Lansbury was actually going to be in the tour (Physically). Lol. I mean, I know she's 95, but for a moment I thought it and got exceptionally excited.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/29/21 at 6:28pm

Gavin Lee is reprising his Lumiere from the 2019 Paper Mill production. I’m sure he’ll stop the show time and again once more.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 4/30/21 at 5:21pm

This sounds like they are putting a lot of thought and effort into this tour - is it possible that the plan is to have this production end up playing the West End or even be a Broadway revival?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/30/21 at 6:42pm

Hoping for the best but I REALLY wish they went back to Square A with a real director and new creative team, instead of having the original creators come back to it. (Rob Roth is gone from it now as we know, but he still laid all the groundwork. the choreographer has picked up where he left off)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 9:13am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Hoping for the best but I REALLY wish they went back to Square A with a real director and new creative team, instead of having the original creators come back to it. (Rob Roth is gone from it now as we know, but he still laid all the groundwork. the choreographer has picked up where he left off)"

Same. I believe the recent non-equity tour used the same creative team as the original production as well, and that production was absolutely atrocious in every way.

[JennH]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 10:33am

I guess I'll have to wait and see, but the addition of tap is unnecessary to me. The Fulton did this I believe, and I just have questions. And as much I love Dame Angie I just don't think that have the same emotional impact as a mysterious deep voice. I can listen to Stiers on both the film and OBC for eons without getting bored. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 11:41am

bwayphreak234 said: "I believe the recent non-equity tour used the same creative team as the original production as well, and that production was absolutely atrocious in every way."

To be fair they were likely working with a fraction of the budget that was afforded to them on the original Broadway production. This tour will likely be scaled down but hopefully not as much as the NetWorks non equity tour.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 12:02pm

It needs a ground-up reinvention. Let a Tina Landau or Michael Arden or Lear DeBessonet type take a stab at it in a LORT theatre with Disney's blessing and maybe it can move. Of course she can wear a yellow dress but rethink the enchanted object designs (including the Beast) as though the original stage production never existed. It does not need to be theme park-adjacent; let it be its own thing like Lion King and Hunchback.

As for the non-equity tours in the past decade, the physical production was the least of its problems. Every performance was a caricature, and otherwise-talented actors were directed to be hammy in the most obnoxious way. It was insulting to the theatrical artform and to the actors involved, and that all falls on the Disney brass and this creative team.

Updated On: 5/1/21 at 12:02 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 1:57pm

FANtomFollies said: "This sounds like they are putting a lot of thought andeffort into this tour - is it possible that the plan is to have this productionend up playing the West End or even be a Broadway revival?"

The tour is ending next summer with the show at the Palladium for a while so I guess that's technically West End, isn't it? I'm sure if the desire is there at that point, they could find a home for it somewhere else.

 

[Tag]

Posted: 5/1/21 at 2:20pm

Disney did take a stab at a new ground-up reinvention on their cruise line.  It was based on the new film version, and included those creepy realistic candle/clock/teapot puppets.

Further proving what the original stage version got right.

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/2/21 at 1:00pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "It needs a ground-up reinvention. Let a Tina Landau or Michael Arden or Lear DeBessonettype take a stab atit in a LORT theatre with Disney's blessing and maybe it can move. Of course she can wear a yellow dress but rethink the enchanted object designs (including the Beast) as though the original stage production never existed. It does not need to be theme park-adjacent; let it be its own thing like Lion King and Hunchback.

As for the non-equity tours in the past decade, the physical production was the least of its problems. Every performance was a caricature, and otherwise-talented actors were directed to be hammy in the most obnoxious way. It was insulting to the theatrical artform and to the actors involved, and that all falls on the Disney brass and this creative team."

It would be nice to see the Beast played for real instead of hammed up for laughs. I absolutely understand the team’s concern that a live and tangible beast character is going to be a lot more frightening than the cartoon and some of the wild harrowing roars in the movie might need to be rethought, however they went so far in the other direction (especially with take over and touring casts) and made the beast...for want of a better expression...a cartoon. Playing him as a spoilt child in the more ferocious moments is not an unintelligent idea and could be an interesting angle but it would be so much nicer if it was played for real and...again for want of a better word...human. The jumping up and down with ‘I want you to come down to dinner’ they started doing was nauseating.

I hope they don’t add in too many of the clumsy alterations they made for the live action movie. They took a perfect example of a musical opening and made wrongheaded changes and for that alone they should have been pushed off the castle roof like Gaston. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/24/21 at 2:24pm

Based on this video with Director and Choreographer Matt West, I am guessing this is going to include aspects of the live film since they show a lot of footage from it in the interview. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKi5yygAEvY

On the plus side, though, this scenic rendering is pretty!

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 5/24/21 at 2:29pm

I really enjoy what I’m seeing and reading about this production before. I’m hoping it transfers to New York.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 12:18am

Hmmm. I had next to no hope for this production (mainly because the original was one of the first productions I ever saw, and the Networks tour was garbage) but that scenic rendering has gotten my hopes up! Basically taking what they already had and just upgrading it, instead of making unnecessary changes. That’s what I like to see from a revival.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 6:34am

So Matt West (who?) is just taking over from where Rob Roth left off, and the timeline hasn't changed?  Something really doesn't add up with the abrupt exit of Roth.

Updated On: 5/25/21 at 06:34 AM

[sparksatmidnight]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 10:42pm

FANtomFollies said: "This sounds like they are putting a lot of thought andeffort into this tour - is it possible that the plan is to have this productionend up playing the West End or even be a Broadway revival?"

It will play at the West End, Plus everywhere else

 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 11:22pm

jlindsey865 said: "I really enjoy what I’m seeing and reading about this production before. I’m hoping it transfers to New York."

Would be great if the Palace Theatre was ready to reopen when this production came to NY. 

[JennH]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 9:09am

Tag said: "Disney did take a stab at a new ground-up reinventionon their cruise line. It was based on the new film version, and includedthose creepy realistic candle/clock/teapotpuppets.

Further proving what the original stage version got right."

TRUTH. And that was actually not even the first time a production used puppetry either, a few companies had done it before that...and they all looked awful. I have a feeling the cruise line only used puppetry to make it even more clear that it was based on the 2017 film, but that aside, I feel like one can only reinvent this show so many times before it goes off the deep end into something odd and/or unrecognizable. No joke, a production I submitted for some years ago did a steampunk design. I wish I were kidding, but needless to say I consider that a dodged bullet. In the end, this show doesn't need insane reinvention, just make the design as big as possible and tell the story honestly. Like many here, I'm also tired of the cookie cutter casting and caricature performances. There's a reason this show was an unexpected success for Disney.

As for the sets here, that video doesn't...really show all that much. But with as little as we see, it's looks alright. 

Updated On: 5/26/21 at 09:09 AM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/3/21 at 11:43am

Images and design concept for the production

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSG5J8kIIWl/

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/3/21 at 12:03pm

The show starts in 3 weeks, I’d hope they’re beyond just conceptual drawings!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/3/21 at 12:49pm

Based on those drawings, it looks like we are getting a hybrid of the original production and the last national tour.

[Dolly80]

Posted: 8/3/21 at 7:04pm

This should have had an entirely new team. And a British set and costume designer. Those renderings look so old fashioned, I very much worry for the taste level here.

This could have taken a much bolder approach. I guess that’s not Disney’s way anymore.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/16/21 at 10:11am

Updated On: 9/16/21 at 10:11 AM