Cast changes in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"

Fri 9 Jan 2004 Cast changes in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" Cast changes have been announced in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Christy Carlson Romano as 'Belle', Jeff McCarthy as 'The Beast' & Alma Cuervo as 'Mrs. Potts' join cast on 17 Feb 2004 . (Steve Blanchard, Broadway's current Beast, will return on April 13th) In 2004, Disney's Beauty and the Beast will mark several major milestones. The production will play its 4,000th performance on Tuesday, January 27th. On April 18th, the musical will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Broadway. Later that month, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will play its 4,098th performance, when it will pass Miss Saigon to become the sixth longest running show in Broadway history. The show has music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, Book by Linda Woolverton. It is directed by Robert Jess Ross, designed by Stanley A Meyer, lighting by Natasha Katz, costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, and choreography by Matt West. The current cast includes: Steve Blanchard as the Beast, as Gaston, David de Vries as Lumiere, Cass Morgan as Mrs. Potts, Jeff Brooks as Cogsworth, Jamie Ross as Maurice, Pam Klinger as Babette, Marguerite Willbanks as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. Henry Hodges and Alex Rutherford alternate the role of Chip. 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.