'Beauty and the Beast' hits regional theatres....- Page 2

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 1:06pm

In the words of Nathan lane, discussing Merlin: the Magical Musical.. "there were three horses. NOT two."

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 1:12pm

>> i'd love to know what secrets disney thinks the wig people are harboring

LOL.

They're a funny bunch, the Disney folk. Even outside their theatrical ventures, they're very strange to work with sometimes. But arguably the most telling thing about them came from a friend of mine who wrote the original source material for one of their more profitable ventures (not naming names, 'cause I dont want to get him in trouble and God knows who reads these boards, right?). They asked him to come in with five more concepts for future animated films -- easy money, no real work per se, so of course he did it. They sent him the readers' reports, and the very first question posed is "What merchandise possibilities exist for this project?" Oy... Walt must be just spinnin'.....

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/4/04 at 1:14pm

EXACTLY.


**note. Most Disney Films follow an exact, set formula, no matter what film it is.

Posted: 7/7/04 at 8:18am

I just heard about another theatre that will be putting on 'Beauty and the Beast', The Barn in Augusta MI. And Guy LeMonnier will be playing the role of Gaston.

http://www.guy-lemonnier.com

http://www.guy-lemonnier.com>http://www.guy-lemonnier.com

target=new HREF=http://www.barntheatre.com/http://www.barntheatre.com/>http://www.barntheatre.com/

[DangerousTalent]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 4:03pm

Other theatres doing "Beauty & the Beast"...
Professional Theatre-
The Ogunquit Playhouse, Ogunquit, ME www.ogunquitplayhouse.com, july/august I believe.

Youth Theatre-
Peacock Players of Nashua, NH www.peacockplayers.org or www.nhtheatre.com (for more info on NH Theatre & this group), this will go up in either November, February, or May.

High School Theatre-
Derryfield Players, Manchester, NH www.derryfield.org, january/february

Always,
Abby

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 4:10pm

You watch, it's gonna turn into the "My Heart Will Go On" of the theatre world. :)

Posted: 7/7/04 at 6:04pm

North Shore's Belle is NIKKI Renee Daniels ~ think that was probably a typo BWguy :). She is FABULOUS!

Also Music Theatre of Wichita is doing it too. Should be gr8.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 7:20pm

ah yes.. Typo :-/ OOPSie

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/7/04 at 7:44pm

i saw nikki when she was Nehebka in AIDA. i don't really remember her performance, but i would love to see/hear her again.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/8/04 at 1:37am

North Shore has posted production photos........... Nikki and Brad! YAY!
NSMT -- BATB

[brandonm]

Posted: 7/8/04 at 10:26am

I'm 12 and I've always wanted to be Chip. Does anyone know of any auditions for Beauty and the Beast? ( preferably in or near Virginia)

[Clarinetbiter135]

Posted: 7/8/04 at 11:40am

In my neck of the woods (mountians of North Carolina), the Flat Rock Playhouse is doing Beauty and the Beast. They are advertising as the first regional theater to do Beauty and the Beast (besides the national tour). It opens in 2 weeks. True or not?

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/8/04 at 12:50pm

Not. There were productions in May. I dont know the specific companies, sorry. Could be the first regional in your particular region, maybe?

And I saw the brochure for that when I was coming through North Carolina last May to see the folks at Guilford University. Let me know what they do with it, will you?

I do know that our production at TCR will be the first community theatre production; Richard Barker is a member of some insider's club at the licensing agency that grants advance rights to some shows, and he fought for that one like crazy. We're beating out two other companies for the title by two weeks.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/8/04 at 5:36pm

awww cute pictures! thanks!

Posted: 7/8/04 at 10:26pm

Hmmm...I'm interested in seeing Brad Little as the Beast in MA and Michael Shawn Lewis in the same role in FL. If only these productions weren't so far away from me... argh.

Your's truly,

Rosalynn

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 7/9/04 at 12:13am

I've seen Brian Noonan as Enjolras and Joe Gillis, and I'd love to see him as Gaston simply because he strikes me as too geeky for the role. Endearingly so, but still. Vocally would be perfect, though.

P.S. Rosalynn, there is no apostrophe in "Yours truly."

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/10/04 at 1:30pm

There is a production at Flat Rock Playhouse that looks wonderful and the reviews have been great!

http://www.flatrockplayhouse.org


reviews/articles --
http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/take5_theater/56711
http://www.asheville.com/news/beautybeast.html
http://hendersonvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040620/NEWS/406200303/1022/FEATURES02

[Clarinetbiter135]

Posted: 7/10/04 at 3:08pm

Yes! The flat rock one is the one thats in my area. I thought it was openning later but I was misinformed. However, I am getting tickets soon so I will let you know how it goes.

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/10/04 at 3:32pm

Looking at pictures of these many productions, I am noticing one thing in particular. They all look very similar to the original production. Look at the sets, the costumes, the staging. It is all very similar. What exactly is Disney restricting with the rights?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/10/04 at 4:32pm

There is a clause in the contract that nothing can be copied from teh stage version or film, but they may have things RESEMBLE teh stage or film version

[dididda]

Posted: 7/10/04 at 6:11pm

im seeing NSMT b&b next friday and am very excited. i will be sure to rport back

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 2:36am

Yes..after seeing the Flat Rock pics I must say that they are not just "suggesting" the show's original design but they are copying it!

And ...suprise..it looks like the Gaston number has the same beer mug choreography that the original does?

Is Disney aware?

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 10:19am

>> Is Disney aware?

Depends on how high a profile the producing company chooses to go. I know they're watching TCR's production (reps from both Disney and the licensing company are supposedly coming to the opening), but the rest of these -- it's just a question of folks feeling they won't get caught. It's sorta like the karaoke version of WICKED that's going on sale: small companies that fly below the radar use these things to put on bootleg productions and pray they won't get caught. More often than not, they succeed, because the folks who control the rights can't be everywhere at once.

But remember how tightly the rights to JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR were controlled when it was released just as a concept album? You had church groups all over the country trying to copy the music off the album and putting it on as a show, and MTI (I think) had a bitch of a time trying to keep that one contained, spending hundreds of thousands in shutting these folks down. Large-scale popular shows that are (seemingly) easy to produce, like BEAUTY and WICKED, are gonna go through the same flurry of productions at the outset.

When it comes to design, we had our own series of discussions at TCR about how close we could come to the film without getting busted. Belle has to wear a yellow dress. Lumiere has to look a certain way. The Beast has to have a blue jacket -- at least that's what we thought. But now we're going in a totally new way, one to make the production completely our own... but it hasn't been easy convincing the artistic staff that it's okay to venture out like that.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 10:26am

That's VERY true.. Disney's approach in the stage version cemeneted that belief. It is much the same with The Wizard of Oz.. people expect the characters to look a certain way. I went through all of the photos at Flat Rock's website.... I don't think they are violating what I hear is in the contract. Yes, teh costumes RESEMBLE the stage and film verion we all know, but they don't COPY... also, Belle's trademark yellow dress is NOT used there at all... Other stuff follows the looks, but doesn't get slavish and copy them... so I think they walked the line and they are on the safe side of that line.....

NOTE on the ballroom scene -- I like how they took the DREADFULLY ugly ballroom scene design concept of the fence-ish units with plants seen on tour and at the Lunt Fontanne as an UGLY painte drop and used that same CONCEPT to create a very pretty ballroom set. Updated On: 7/11/04 at 10:26 AM

[sean martin]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 10:40am

We've adjusted the set approach a bit from the one on my web site: stylistically, I'm looking at an artist named Eyvind Earle, who created the backgrounds for SLEEPING BEAUTY -- he has this wonderfully angular, highly styled approach to trees that's gonna blend nicely with the concept of the castle becoming the forest as the spell takes over. The stage will be covered with trees and shrubs and rocks, all of which can be maneuvered into areas for the rooms of the castle as well as the forest surrounding. During the ballroom scene, the tips of the limbs will all light up, creating a stage full of candles. It should be a pretty gorgeous moment.