Beauty And The Beastcelebrates its 5000 performance

Walt Disney�s Beauty And The Beast celebrate its 5,000th performance this evening on the 20 Jun 2006 at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where the musical is currently booking to 26 Nov 2006.

Beauty And The Beast opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in 1994, where it played more than 2,250 performances, becoming the longest-running show ever at the theatre. The production moved to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1999, where it is also the longest-running tenant at this theatre.

Beauty And The Beast is Broadway's longest running American musical and the 6th longest running musical of all time. Seen in 13 countries, the total worldwide attendance stands at more than 25 million people, making it one of the world�s most-seen musicals.

Disney�s Beauty And The Beast, features Steve Blanchard as the Beast, Sarah Litzsinger as Belle, Grant Norman as Gaston, ***Jacob Young as Lumiere, Jeanne Lehman as Mrs. Potts, Christopher Duva as Cogsworth, Jamie Ross as Maurice, Meredith Inglesby as Babette, Gina Ferrall as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. Trevor Braun and Alexander Scheitinger alternate the role of Chip.
***Please note: Jacob Young will not appear in Wed Matinees.

Donny Osmond will begin performances as Gaston on the 19 Sep 2006.

Beauty And The Beast is the classic love story of Belle, a young woman in a small, provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a prince trapped in a spell placed on him by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and to be loved, the spell will be broken and he will be transformed back to his former self. But time is running out, and if the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he will be doomed for all eternity.

Disney's Beauty And The Beast features Alan Menken's Academy Award-winning score, songs by the late Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (including the Academy Award-winning title song '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'). Book is by Linda Woolverton, author of the original screenplay.

The musical is choreographed by Matt West and directed by Robert Jess Roth. Sets are by Stan Meyer, costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, and lighting by Natasha Katz.

(For more information click here)