Disney’s first foray into theatrical production became Broadway’s sixth longest running show of all time. Beauty and the Beast is a worldwide stage success, which launched Disney’s theatrical division and led to the recreation of other beloved Disney films on stage.Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the musical stage adaptation of the company’s hit animated feature from 1991, featuring Alan Menken’s Academy Award-winning score, songs by the late Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (including the Academy Award-winning title song and the showstopping Be Our Guest), plus songs written especially for the stage by Alan Menken and Tim Rice (including If I Can’t Love Her and A Change In Me). The book is by Linda Woolverton, author of the original screenplay.
The show originally opened on April 18, 1994 at the Palace Theatre on Broadway and transferred to London’s Dominion Theatre from May 1997 to December 1999. It has toured both the United States and the UK and will now be presented by Blackpool & Fylde Light Opera Company.