PREVIEW
What: Beauty and the Beast
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Opens Friday, 12:30 p.m.; 7:30 p.m. Continues April 22-29 at 7:30 nightly, 2 p.m. matinées
Tickets: $35 (students), $40 (seniors), $45 (general)
Reservations: 250-386-6121
It’s been just one month since Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast opened, and it has already passed the billion-dollar mark in worldwide box-office grosses.
While some might consider this competition for the Canadian College of Performing Arts production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast that opens Friday, director Darold Roles isn’t losing any sleep over it.
“We knew the movie was coming, but we didn’t know about the other Beauty and the Beast shows,” said Roles, referring to upcoming Four Seasons Musical Theatre and Ballet Victoria productions.
There’s a reason audiences can’t seem to get enough of the classic fairy tale, which in contemporary incarnations celebrates love that transcends physical attraction, he said.
“Our aim is to rekindle memories of Disney’s original animated film, which was the first animated film to be nominated for a best picture Oscar,” said Roles, CCPA’s artistic and education director. “Everyone I’ve talked to said they grew up on that movie.”
Roles deliberately avoided seeing director Bill Condon’s current movie version starring Emma Watson so he wouldn’t be influenced.
He did, however, have the privilege of seeing the Broadway stage production while it was in previews in Los Angeles a month before it opened in New York.
With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by the late Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, the stage version was purposely adapted from Disney’s beloved 1991 animated film.
Brad L’Ecuyer, the CCPA production’s musical director, also hasn’t seen the new film, which he said features some new songs for reasons besides artistic enhancement.
“The main reason they do that is to be eligible for the Academy Award for best new song nomination,” he said. “If the song has been on Broadway, it can’t win that award.”
L’Ecuyer said he was thrilled to get the chance to do CCPA’s take on the Broadway show based on the animated movie he grew up on.
“They’ve added some new songs for the updated version of the show, and each is its own piece,” said L’Ecuyer, noting all the major characters have a chance to shine.
Highlights include Home, which Belle sings when she arrives at Beast’s castle; Me, a love song to himself sung by narcissistic Gaston; and Beast’s new solo, the mournful ballad If I Love Her.
One of L’Ecuyer’s favourites is Human Again, a new song at the top of Act 2 in which the enchanted talking household objects, including Lumière, the gentlemanly candelabra, Cogsworth, the fussy mantel clock, and Mrs. Potts, the Cockney housekeeper who becomes a teapot, express their longing to return to human form.
Ashman originally wrote the song for the animated movie, but it was cut.
Another Act 2 highlight is Belle’s new solo titled A Change in Me, which was written for Toni Braxton when she joined the Broadway cast.
“What is wonderful about the [stage] show is that it’s such a beautiful story, with a timeless and really important theme about looking for beauty within,” said Roles. “And the music is just so gorgeous.”
As always, Roles selected for the big spring musical a show that presents as many opportunities as possible for its dual casts, yellow and blue — as it did with last year’s successful production of Mary Poppins.
“We were also looking for something to match the impact and the delight our audiences experienced last year,” said Roles.
Audiences got a sneak preview when CCPA performers teamed up with the Naden Band for a concert at the Royal Theatre last month before rehearsals had even officially begun.
As part of the buildup, some of the show’s costumed cast members also recently staged a teaser for customers at the Bay Centre.
“We had children young and old running up and hugging Belle,” Roles recalled. “It’s a testament to how wonderful and endearing these characters are.”
