tomorrowBIGLITES said: "linus84 said: "I saw this in Schenectady and can confirm No Matter What, Maison De Lunes, and The Battle are cut. New overture featuring A Change in Me
New dance arrangements for Gaston, Be Our Guest, and Human Again.
New dialogue woven into a few scenes, some cuts made to dialogue/ characters (ex: three silly girls appear in Belle number but no longer have dialogue/scene with Gaston before Me, Wardrobe character given more)
New costume/set designs that evoke the original but reflect the current theatrical trends."
You should always cut “A Change in Me”
Simply cause Belle doesn’t change in the story. The beast does. That’s why that song is boring.
Poor “No Matter What”. If there’s any song in the show worth Menken rewriting it’s that one."
Belle DOES change. She is benign but aloof in the village, living in a world of her own. She isn’t a narcissist like Gaston, but outside of her family no one really interests her. In the castle, she discovers empathy and bonds with people outside herself.
Understudy Joined: 2/19/04
I've always liked No Matter What as well but having it cut does tighten the pacing. Overall, this production does really well with pace - the story really moves along.
I also forgot to mention that How Long Must This Go On is cut - I think it was one of the first to go in earlier revivals
Does this use the Angela Lansbury narration during the prologue?
sbflyfan said: "Does this use the Angela Lansbury narration during the prologue?"
Yes, it’s a solid recording of Lansbury. She is listed first in the Playbill profiles.
Chorus Member Joined: 5/27/25
darquegk said: "tomorrowBIGLITES said: "linus84 said: "I saw this in Schenectady and can confirm No Matter What, Maison De Lunes, and The Battle are cut. New overture featuring A Change in Me
New dance arrangements for Gaston, Be Our Guest, and Human Again.
New dialogue woven into a few scenes, some cuts made to dialogue/ characters (ex: three silly girls appear in Belle number but no longer have dialogue/scene with Gaston before Me, Wardrobe character given more)
New costume/set designs that evoke the original but reflect the current theatrical trends."
You should always cut “A Change in Me”
Simply cause Belle doesn’t change in the story. The beast does. That’s why that song is boring.
Poor “No Matter What”. If there’s any song in the show worth Menken rewriting it’s that one."
Belle DOES change. She is benign but aloof in the village, living in a world of her own. She isn’t a narcissist like Gaston, but outside of her family no one really interests her. In the castle, she discovers empathy and bonds with people outside herself."
I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s like she goes to college and is like “finally my people!” And then marries a rich guy.
Just jumping on here to ask if anyone else is bothered by the fact that the Beast’s makeup basically consists of a nose and horns and little else…Is he getting the Gerard Butler POTO treatment? Like, “What if instead of scary and gross we make him HOT?”
Give him one night at The Eagle and he'd never come home to Belle.
I love NO MATTER WHAT as a song, and I like Maurice having a moment, but I do get why they cut it. It doesn't advance the plot or characters much, and the audience comes in with an understanding of the father/daughter relationship already.
I like the design of the Beast and losing some of those theme park-style prosthetics to really let the actor shine. Is it weird from a race standpoint and would they be doing the same for a white actor as the beast? I don't know, it's Disney I'd rather not think that hard...
How many players in the orchestra?
For me the biggest loss is the mob stuff. That’s just such a fun part of the show, building up to the big fight. And Be Our Guest. I can’t stand the changes made to that number.
Updated On: 7/10/25 at 05:46 PMChorus Member Joined: 7/17/17
The Distinctive Baritone said: "Just jumping on here to ask if anyone else is bothered by the fact that the Beast’s makeup basically consists of a nose and horns and little else…Is he getting the Gerard Butler POTO treatment? Like, “What if instead of scary and gross we make him HOT?”"
Definitely not giving, "...she transformed him into a hideous beast." More like a sexy man with horns.
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "How many players in the orchestra?"
Looks like 9, with the common doubling or tripling up.
1. violin
2. flute/piccolo/alto flute
3. clarinet/flute/bass clarinet
4. trumpet/flugelhorn/piccolo trumpet
5. French horn
6. trombone/bass trombone
7. drums/percussion
8. keyboard
9. keyboard
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I like the design of the Beast and losing some of those theme park-style prosthetics to really let the actor shine. Is it weird from a race standpoint and would they be doing the same for a white actor as the beast? I don't know, it's Disney I'd rather not think that hard...”
That occurred to me me as well. The optics of a black Beast and white Belle are a little iffy to begin with, but here it seems they were like, “Well, his skin color is the same as the Beast’s fur, so this is just easier.”
Anyway, I saw the original Broadway production as a kid, and the stage magic they used to pull off the Beast’s transformation blew my mind. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. It’s a shame that the transformation for this production clearly won’t have the same effect.
In the early days of tik tok I remember a girl talking about her high school production of BATB where a Black student played The Beast and a white student played him post-true loves kiss. Disney should try that!
Having seen the original Broadway production a handful of times at the Palace Theatre, I have zero interest in seeing a watered-down reduced budget level production. Ever.
For those who weren’t around about 30 years ago, here’s the full “Be Our Guest” number performed by Gary Beach, Susan Egan, and the entire original 1994 Broadway cast at the Palace Theatre:
Understudy Joined: 11/15/13
BrodyFosse123 said: "Having seen the original Broadway production a handful of times at the Palace Theatre, I have zero interest in seeing a watered-down reduced budget level production. Ever.
For those who weren’t around about 30 years ago, here’s the full “Be Our Guest” number performed by Gary Beach, Susan Egan, and the entire original 1994 Broadway cast at the Palace Theatre:
"
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