Will Beauty Really Close?- Page 5

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 1:43pm

It used to actually look like a rock, now it is a tube of steps covered with an African Print.

[winston89]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 6:34pm

Allentown, I wasn't the one that said "Pride Rock is completely different than it was at the New Amsterdam." That was Curtain Pull Downer who said it not me. So just be careful before you start to bash someone.


Also, as I said I saw TLK in both theatres. The only noticable changes was where they did some of the sutff that did in the boxes of the New Amsterdam that they re done. The things like the ensamble members in the beginning of the first and second act just hang go to the front of the Mezz. And the band is stil on the side though it may have been downsized but I don't know for sure. Also, the set doesn't look changed at all.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 7:45pm

Curtain, that sounds like the tour rock. I was really disappointed with the way Pride Rock looked on tour. It didn't look like a rock at all. I was actually disappointed with the show overall. I wonder if I'll live to see the day this show closes.

Posted: 3/20/07 at 8:00pm

"Allentown, I wasn't the one that said "Pride Rock is completely different than it was at the New Amsterdam." That was Curtain Pull Downer who said it not me. So just be careful before you start to bash someone."

I wasn't talking to you about the rock, or slide.

PS: Congrats on taking the spelling test.

[Sylar2]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 8:24pm

Is Johnny T still doing this?

They're down now to what, a cast of 4? Remember when they had this HUGE cast and it was such the spectacle. I think the theme park version has a bigger cast.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:46pm

Just for the record -
The original Broadway cast was 39: 11 principals plus one extra Chip, 20 ensemble, 6 swings, and a Beast/Gaston standby. The current cast is 32: 11 principals plus one extra Chip, 16 ensemble, and 4 swings. In other words, the number of bodies onstage each show was only downsized by four ensemble members.

The official Disney UK tour was identical to the most recent US tour (2000-03) in cast size, orchestra size, and scenic elements.

The set that inhabits the Lunt was the first National Tour set (1995-1999), and for a tour set, it is certainly not chintzy or small. At the time that tour was out, it was one of the biggest sets on the road. The set that some of the posters here might be dissing is the second National Tour (2000-03) set, which did downsize scenically quite a bit; it resorted to a lot more drops in order to fit into more theatres and make load-ins much shorter so the show could play more venues for shorter periods of time. The Lunt set is NOT that drop-heavy set at all. It still has a big, multi-level, moving castle, many impressive levels in Be Our Guest, plenty of sumptuous moving pieces, etc.

The things people on this board seem to be missing if they saw the show at the Palace and then at the Lunt are the fireworks used in various places (which were removed in the transfer because of ongoing problems with both the musicians and the cast inhaling particulate matter and coming down with bronchial infections) and the terrace/Finale set, which went from being a forced-perspective collonnade to a sort of Japanese tea garden drop and gate. All the magic stayed the same in the transfer. All the costumes stayed the same in the transfer with very few, barely noticeable exceptions. In other words, it still looks like a Broadway show, not like the most recent national tour.

Just for the record -

Updated On: 3/20/07 at 10:46 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:53pm

And Pride Rock is different too.
I said that.

[winston89]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:59pm

I know you said that. Allentown was being a dick because I misspelled in a thread I did and didn't go back to fix it and thus bashing me on my spelling.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 11:29pm

Only 4 ensemble members? Not a lot at all.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/21/07 at 12:07am

and it ran a hell of a lot longer and made more money at the Lunt.
And it was the 5th largest percentage filler last week.
Are the DISNEY people looking at the numbers at all?

[dancinfan]

Posted: 3/21/07 at 6:07am

It's hard to say whether the Disney people are taking note of the numbers since announcing the closing of the show. As I said in another thread about Beauty closing, the current head of Disney Theatricals, Tom Schumacher, has never been fond of BATB. He took over well after it opened and worked on Lion King and Aida, which he thinks are far superior. Beauty kept chugging along in spite of his tastes, making money for the company, especially on tour, but it quickly became the ugly stepchild on the budgetary ladder.

I think it's closing when it was announced, and it doesn't seem like there will be any effort to tour it or re-open it in New York anytime soon. It's making money for Disney in the MTI licensing market, and they are happy about that. In fact, I heard a rumor about at least one company in California renting the Broadway costumes for their production in 2008, though I don't know if it's true.

It's a very good story with mostly very good songs. It will live on in various forms for a long time. If it ever does see Broadway again, my guess is that it will be a radically rethought and redesigned revival many years from now.

[beacon1]

Posted: 3/25/07 at 5:44pm

According to this article, Donny Osmond is coming back for the final portion of the shows, run. Has anyone else heard this?

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=457882007

"After starring in the Disney musical "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway last year to rave reviews, he has been asked to play the final run of the show that closes this year."

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/25/07 at 5:47pm

Wouldn't surprise me, but considering he's got a new TV gig, I think it would be unlikely.

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 3/25/07 at 6:32pm

I wish they would bring back the OBC to close out the last week or two of the show! Then it would truly be, going out with a bang!

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 3/25/07 at 6:36pm

this makes me so saddd