Fifteen days until the Tony Awards! We are at #15 on my 20-day Countdown of the Top 20 Tony Performances of My Lifetime.
Some shows are all music. Some shows are all dance. Some shows are all spectacle. And some shows are all three. When Beauty and the Beast came to the Broadway stage in 1994, its sets, design, costumes, and quick, breathtaking scene changes could be hailed as nothing other than “Disney Magic."
With seven new songs written for the stage production -- including the show-stopper, “If I Can't Love Her," sung by none other than the unbeatable Terrence Mann (seeing a pattern here?) --; a stellar cast consisting of Mann, Susan Egan, and Burke Moses; the impeccable orchestrations of Danny Troob; and the Tony-winning costume design of Ann Hould-Ward, Beauty and the Beast opened in 1994 and went on to play 5,464 performances, to become the eighth-longest-running show in Broadway history, and to lead the way for Disney to take over Broadway (With three Disney shows currently running on Broadway, I'd call that “taking over," wouldn't you?).
Here is a kick-ass medley from the original cast, performing some of the best songs from the show at the 1994 Tony Awards. Spectacle, indeed! Look at how effortlessly Disney works its magic! I am so terribly in love with Lumiere from this show, that when he pops out in front of the curtain to set us up for one of Disney's (and Alan Menken's!) best songs EVER, I must confess, I squeal with delight and line up for the kick-line! Yes, every time. Enjoy!
(The video says 1992 Tony Awards, but it is actually 1994. Trust me. I know these things.)
No comments:
Post a Comment