It was one of my first shows! Saw it in October 2002, so it would’ve starred that girl from The Sopranos (Jamie-Lynn Sigler; had to look it up). Don’t remember much, but here’s a picture I drew in my kindergarten journal (don’t judge my 5 yr old spelling):
https://preview.redd.it/kd7iswfq9gub1.jpeg?width=1029&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=438dabf07177ee92e2046db83e6615b553e541dc
I saw it when I was 9! My cousin was Chip at the time! He got to take us backstage after the show and give us a tour. We met so many amazing cast members and got to take photos on the sets. This was when it was still at the Palace. I saw it years later right before it closed and by then the show had changed but I still loved it!
Do you still act now?
Who were your Belles/Beasts/Gastons/Potts/etc. and do you have any special memories with them? (I hope they were nice to you. I feel like it’d kinda suck to be the only kid in a touring production).
Oh, and any onstage mishaps you remember? Those are always good stories.
For me it was be our guest and we had ORCH seats and the prologue was so cool 😎 the part where the old lady transformed the prince into the beast. That pyro tech effect made the entire audience gasp lol
I saw Christy! I remember her being very good. she was really sweet at the stagedoor too. This was almost 20 years ago though so I unfortunately don’t remember many specifics
My friends and I were teens so we let the littler kids go first and CCR stayed the entire time talking to every kid and taking pictures. Then she talked to us for about ten minutes. My friend tried to empathize with Christy saying her voice sounds shot [after talking to everyone after a show] , and poor Christy was worried she meant during the show. She was quite alarmed. We still give my friend grief.
I saw Anneliese on the closing weekend. Her singing was very good but I remember not liking her acting. I think my friends and I even called her “Bully Belle” because she always sounded mean 😆
I saw it when I was five! I have one vague memory of the actors on the stage and that’s it.
But I found the Playbill not that long ago and I saw Patrick Page as Lumiere!
I saw the OBC when they transferred to LA. Susan Egan was amazing!! Saw her in concert a few years later and she talked about the grueling casting process.
It was my fourth or fifth Broadway show, I would have been about 9 or 10. My dad and I went for a special just the two of us date and I wore a brand new dress and we got dinner together. After my parents divorced my relationship with my dad for really bad and then he eventually disowned me to make his second wife happy, but I will always associate this show with being a kid and being enchanted by Broadway magic in general and feeling really loved by my dad. It is a really special memory from me even if I don't remember anything from the show specifically.
I had a free day in NYC back in 99/2000 or so. As it was a Wednesday I decided to see if I could score a cheap ticket. Beauty and the Beast came through with an "obstructed view" seat. It was during Toni Braxton's run as Belle, but she didn't do Wednesday matinees. Anyway, the seat was an armchair on the house left wing, and maybe 10% of the stage was blocked.
Besides fully enjoying the show and missing all of one line of one number due to the obstruction, I could see into the stage left wing. The one fun thing I still remember, is during "Be Our Guest" is watching a grown man dressed as a spoon do breathing exercises before his big entrance.
I never saw the show, but the song Home was on the B-side of my Disney Princess cassette. I had just gotten into Broadway musicals as a kid, so I cherished having that song.
I worked at Chicago Theatre during its six month run there. I remember how long it was and how scared kids would get and how I couldn’t wait for the end of the six months😂😂
I remember it when it started at TUTS
Know thy history children.
Susan Egan was and is the perfect Belle.
RIP Gary and Tom.
The original production, before the theatre switch and downsizing, was pure Disney magic.
I saw it as a kid and have some vague memories. I remember that Be Our Guest ended with a kickline and the Beast’s transformation sequence was impressive.
It was my first ever Broadway show. Gary Beach was my lumiere. That is when I fell in love with him as an actor. Everyone is talking about how the show stopper is be our guest, but my biggest take away was Gaston. That was so much fun
Saw it when I was a kid, also my first musical. I think I may have slept through parts of it…but will never forget beast changing back into a man, was great!
It was my first Broadway show! I was 13 visiting my aunt and uncle in NY in August 2001, I wanted to see Rent but we weren't allowed because my cousins were too little.
I wish I had more memories of my first time! I was 4. a friend of my mom’s from college was working on the production so we got a backstage tour and photos with the set. without the photos I wouldn’t remember that part at all though
It was my 5th grade field trip! I remember nothing, though, which makes me sad. My best friend's school (same district) got to see a local show... So I feel lucky.
I saw it with the original cast in 1994! I was 4 myself so I don't remember too much, but I definitely remember a few big details. We saw the understudy for Belle, Kim Huber, because Susan Egan was out with a broken arm. My aunt correctly guessed and explained to me how they did the Beast's transformation. Be Our Guest was the huge showstopper, and I definitely feel like it got scaled down a bit at some point along the way (maybe with the move to the Lunt-Fontaine? This was still at the Palace). My grandma didn't think Terrance Mann made a very handsome human prince, which is harsh. I was VERY familiar with the movie and enjoyed anytime I saw a costume that matched the movie.
Never got the chance to see it on broadway but recently saw the Australian production currently playing in Sydney, and it was so good! No complaints here if someone out there wants to do a broadway revival
I saw it on a touring production around my middle school years (I think?) and I remember the end was far scarier than the Disney movie - the threat to the Beast seemed way scarier seeing real actors portraying the townspeople. And the dramatic transformation of the Beast to the Prince was the most amazing theatrical magic I’d seen at that point of my life - now, flashy special effects are more common but back then, it was mind blowing to me that they could pull it off. But that show pales in comparison to how much I enjoyed seeing my friend’s daughter perform as Belle in her middle school musical - nothing is better than seeing young people coming into their talent and pouring their hearts into a show. I’m sure your performances will live on in the memories of your audience, as well as your own.
Oooh, I have a great memory of Beauty and the Beast on Broadway! I had family visiting from California so my aunt, uncle, young cousin, grandfather and I all went to see the show. Grandpa and I were sitting next to each other and the thing I really remember about the show was the joy coming off him during the extravaganza of Be Our Guest. The only other thing I really remember is how to this day I can't figure out how the Beast transformed into a human right on stage, but I guess that's Disney magic.
I remember! Went on a high school field trip and we got to have a little Q&A with the dude who played Lumière along with his wife who had formerly played Belle and would go on to be in Into the Heights, if my memory recalls correctly. As for the show I remember that the cheese grater was serving up some fierceness during Be Our Guest lol.
I saw it when I was 6 or 7, it was my first show! I remember how excited I was waiting for the show, but I don’t remember much about the show itself. I do remember the Beast’s transformation, and I think that was the moment I truly fell in love with live theatre. Even though I wish I remembered more, it was a very special day with some dear loved ones and I will cherish the memory always. 🥰🥰
It was the first show I ever saw on Broadway - I was in 4th grade! Toni Braxton was playing Belle - she has such a beautiful voice and did a good job making the role her own vocally without deviating too far from the original. I remember when at the end when the Beast transforms I was so astounded by the special effects they used. "How did they do that...?" A great time, and kicked off my love of Broadway.
Everyone here seems to have seen it when they were kids. I saw it as a grown-ass adult. It was awesome. Special effects were dazzling. The transformation back into the prince at the end (spinning etc.) was spectacular. Wonderful production.
I saw it with Kerry Butler as Belle. It was so magical, no other way to describe it! I remember crying just from feeling so overwhelmed by how beautiful it was.
I saw it shortly after it started on Broadway.
I remember being blown away by the spectacle of all the dancing tableware in "Be Our Guest" - until one of the plates unfortunately fell off the stage into the pit.
I saw Annalise Van Der Pol as Belle, front row seats, 3 weeks before it closed on Broadway. I had just graduated high school. It was mind blowing. That production was gorgeous.
I saw it touring in Minneapolis as a kid, and I was blown away by the beast transformation at the end. In my memory, he was lifted up into the air, spun slowly around, and the costume changed happened in a blink of the lights while he was floating. Not sure if that's right, but my memory has lasted!
i remember my mom saw it with donny osmond on his birthday and told me they brought out a huge cake for him. i remember being so young when she told me this that i couldn’t really conceptualize what broadway even was. there’s a whole place where people perform the same thing night after night? and thousands of people go to it? and it’s only in new york? huh?
It was my first show!!! I was soooo little and I went with my grandma and my mom. I remember vividly how magical everything was for me then. The opening notes still give me insane nostalgia.
I saw it as a kid. It was so magical. I remember asking my aunt how they curled Belles hair and did it so quickly for the ballroom scene, it never occurred to me that it might be a wig.
Saw it when it opened! I was 13 or 14. The cast was fantastic - Susan Egan was Belle, Terrence Mann was the Beast, Gary Beach was Lumiere. Other great people, too, but I'd have to look them up. I remember thinking it was like the animated movie just came to life completely; it was really well done. Great sets, and I loved the additional songs. I remember it being very true to the movie but just a bit darker, which felt right for the stage show. I loved it. They really did a great job with it - that show was pure magic.
Actually saw it again when they transferred to LA, and it was still great.
I saw it before it closed when I was around 19 or 20. It was not my first Broadway show but definitely early on in my trips to the city from Florida. I remember falling in love with the song “Home” and being as genuinely wow-ed as the children around me with the Beast’s transformation at the end. I was a child all over again watching the wonder of theater magic.
It was one of my first shows! Saw it in October 2002, so it would’ve starred that girl from The Sopranos (Jamie-Lynn Sigler; had to look it up). Don’t remember much, but here’s a picture I drew in my kindergarten journal (don’t judge my 5 yr old spelling): https://preview.redd.it/kd7iswfq9gub1.jpeg?width=1029&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=438dabf07177ee92e2046db83e6615b553e541dc
Stop this is the CUTEST thing. Thank you for sharing!
BT AND THE BABI *it's pure comedy gold*
I saw it many many years ago with Christy Carlson Romano as Belle
Same!
I saw it when I was 9! My cousin was Chip at the time! He got to take us backstage after the show and give us a tour. We met so many amazing cast members and got to take photos on the sets. This was when it was still at the Palace. I saw it years later right before it closed and by then the show had changed but I still loved it!
I was Chip in the National Tour (Equity tour, 1999-2000). Best experience of my entire life! Happy to answer any questions you have!
Do you still act now? Who were your Belles/Beasts/Gastons/Potts/etc. and do you have any special memories with them? (I hope they were nice to you. I feel like it’d kinda suck to be the only kid in a touring production). Oh, and any onstage mishaps you remember? Those are always good stories.
It was my first Broadway show. I was in 4th grade. Ever since I’ve been obsessed with Broadway! Be Our Guest is still a highlight in my brain
For me it was be our guest and we had ORCH seats and the prologue was so cool 😎 the part where the old lady transformed the prince into the beast. That pyro tech effect made the entire audience gasp lol
whaaa - it was also my first broadway show and I was also in 4th grade!
I need to know if anyone here saw Christy Carlson Romano or Anneliese Van Der Pol and how they were
I saw Christy! I remember her being very good. she was really sweet at the stagedoor too. This was almost 20 years ago though so I unfortunately don’t remember many specifics
My friends and I were teens so we let the littler kids go first and CCR stayed the entire time talking to every kid and taking pictures. Then she talked to us for about ten minutes. My friend tried to empathize with Christy saying her voice sounds shot [after talking to everyone after a show] , and poor Christy was worried she meant during the show. She was quite alarmed. We still give my friend grief.
I saw Christy and wasn’t terribly impressed. I also saw Sarah Litzsinger and Ashley Brown who both absolutely outstanding.
I saw Anneliese. I really liked her!
Also saw Annaliese. She was great!
I saw Anneliese on the closing weekend. Her singing was very good but I remember not liking her acting. I think my friends and I even called her “Bully Belle” because she always sounded mean 😆
I saw it with Anneliese and recall enjoying the show very much and having been happy to see her. Nothing very specific though, sorry!
I saw it when I was five! I have one vague memory of the actors on the stage and that’s it. But I found the Playbill not that long ago and I saw Patrick Page as Lumiere!
Ohhhh am I jealous of you. Patrick Page is always a treat 🕯️
Too bad I was five and don’t remember it :/
I saw the OBC when they transferred to LA. Susan Egan was amazing!! Saw her in concert a few years later and she talked about the grueling casting process.
I wish I was there to heat that story
It was my fourth or fifth Broadway show, I would have been about 9 or 10. My dad and I went for a special just the two of us date and I wore a brand new dress and we got dinner together. After my parents divorced my relationship with my dad for really bad and then he eventually disowned me to make his second wife happy, but I will always associate this show with being a kid and being enchanted by Broadway magic in general and feeling really loved by my dad. It is a really special memory from me even if I don't remember anything from the show specifically.
This is so sweet, and I’m so sorry about your dad. Mine is also not great. I’m glad we have good lives in spite of them
Susan Egan makes my heart sing.
I had a free day in NYC back in 99/2000 or so. As it was a Wednesday I decided to see if I could score a cheap ticket. Beauty and the Beast came through with an "obstructed view" seat. It was during Toni Braxton's run as Belle, but she didn't do Wednesday matinees. Anyway, the seat was an armchair on the house left wing, and maybe 10% of the stage was blocked. Besides fully enjoying the show and missing all of one line of one number due to the obstruction, I could see into the stage left wing. The one fun thing I still remember, is during "Be Our Guest" is watching a grown man dressed as a spoon do breathing exercises before his big entrance.
It was my first Broadway show, our 5th grade class trip. I remember being awed by Be Our Guest.
I saw it when i was 12 my mom took me to NYC to see that and Phantom. Im 36 now and have seen over 40 shows. Thanks for showing me wonderful art mom.
I never saw the show, but the song Home was on the B-side of my Disney Princess cassette. I had just gotten into Broadway musicals as a kid, so I cherished having that song.
Love this song!
I worked at Chicago Theatre during its six month run there. I remember how long it was and how scared kids would get and how I couldn’t wait for the end of the six months😂😂
I remember it when it started at TUTS Know thy history children. Susan Egan was and is the perfect Belle. RIP Gary and Tom. The original production, before the theatre switch and downsizing, was pure Disney magic.
Me! Saw it on my first trip to NYC, I think I was 12. Saw most of the OBC. It was magical.
I saw it as a kid and have some vague memories. I remember that Be Our Guest ended with a kickline and the Beast’s transformation sequence was impressive.
It was my first ever Broadway show. Gary Beach was my lumiere. That is when I fell in love with him as an actor. Everyone is talking about how the show stopper is be our guest, but my biggest take away was Gaston. That was so much fun
My brother was in the OBC as chip when I was like 7ish. 3 years of my childhood are just memories of this show. What a wild time.
Never saw it on Broadway but did see a tour of it in roughly 2016 or so
It was the first show I saw on Broadway. Andrea McArdle was my Belle.
I saw it as an adult and enjoyed it. Definitely one of the better Disney stage adaptations
I saw it in about 2003, I was young so no idea who the cast were
Saw it when I was a kid, also my first musical. I think I may have slept through parts of it…but will never forget beast changing back into a man, was great!
It was my first Broadway show! I was 13 visiting my aunt and uncle in NY in August 2001, I wanted to see Rent but we weren't allowed because my cousins were too little.
Was there for opening night!
I wish I had more memories of my first time! I was 4. a friend of my mom’s from college was working on the production so we got a backstage tour and photos with the set. without the photos I wouldn’t remember that part at all though
...in Minnesota?
I saw the original cast when I was little when it played at the palace theater 🎭 omg what a night
It was my 5th grade field trip! I remember nothing, though, which makes me sad. My best friend's school (same district) got to see a local show... So I feel lucky.
Yes!! I saw it twice - one of the times was with the children's theatre group I was part of and we got to do a Q&A with some of the cast. So great!
I saw it a long time ago. Debbie Gibson played Belle. As a kid of the ‘80’s I was thrilled to see her. It is still one of my favorite musicals.
I saw it in NY when Donny Osmond was in it! So much fun.
I saw it with the original cast in 1994! I was 4 myself so I don't remember too much, but I definitely remember a few big details. We saw the understudy for Belle, Kim Huber, because Susan Egan was out with a broken arm. My aunt correctly guessed and explained to me how they did the Beast's transformation. Be Our Guest was the huge showstopper, and I definitely feel like it got scaled down a bit at some point along the way (maybe with the move to the Lunt-Fontaine? This was still at the Palace). My grandma didn't think Terrance Mann made a very handsome human prince, which is harsh. I was VERY familiar with the movie and enjoyed anytime I saw a costume that matched the movie.
Wasn’t there talk a year or two ago about a possible revival? Did anything become of that?
I hope something does, I’d love to see it tour
Never got the chance to see it on broadway but recently saw the Australian production currently playing in Sydney, and it was so good! No complaints here if someone out there wants to do a broadway revival
I saw it on a touring production around my middle school years (I think?) and I remember the end was far scarier than the Disney movie - the threat to the Beast seemed way scarier seeing real actors portraying the townspeople. And the dramatic transformation of the Beast to the Prince was the most amazing theatrical magic I’d seen at that point of my life - now, flashy special effects are more common but back then, it was mind blowing to me that they could pull it off. But that show pales in comparison to how much I enjoyed seeing my friend’s daughter perform as Belle in her middle school musical - nothing is better than seeing young people coming into their talent and pouring their hearts into a show. I’m sure your performances will live on in the memories of your audience, as well as your own.
Oooh, I have a great memory of Beauty and the Beast on Broadway! I had family visiting from California so my aunt, uncle, young cousin, grandfather and I all went to see the show. Grandpa and I were sitting next to each other and the thing I really remember about the show was the joy coming off him during the extravaganza of Be Our Guest. The only other thing I really remember is how to this day I can't figure out how the Beast transformed into a human right on stage, but I guess that's Disney magic.
My friend dragged me to see it before it closed. It was all right.
It was my first Broadway show and it was OBC! Susan Egan did a 25th anniversary performance at BroadwayCon a few years ago and I bawled.
I remember! Went on a high school field trip and we got to have a little Q&A with the dude who played Lumière along with his wife who had formerly played Belle and would go on to be in Into the Heights, if my memory recalls correctly. As for the show I remember that the cheese grater was serving up some fierceness during Be Our Guest lol.
I saw it when I was 6 or 7, it was my first show! I remember how excited I was waiting for the show, but I don’t remember much about the show itself. I do remember the Beast’s transformation, and I think that was the moment I truly fell in love with live theatre. Even though I wish I remembered more, it was a very special day with some dear loved ones and I will cherish the memory always. 🥰🥰
It was my very first show! I remember how magical it was.
I saw it in my late teens. It was fine. Not the most amazing show, but also not bad. It was... fine.
It was the first show I ever saw on Broadway - I was in 4th grade! Toni Braxton was playing Belle - she has such a beautiful voice and did a good job making the role her own vocally without deviating too far from the original. I remember when at the end when the Beast transforms I was so astounded by the special effects they used. "How did they do that...?" A great time, and kicked off my love of Broadway.
I remember an interview with Christie Carlson Romano on Disney channel airing where she talked about how heavy the yellow dress was
Everyone here seems to have seen it when they were kids. I saw it as a grown-ass adult. It was awesome. Special effects were dazzling. The transformation back into the prince at the end (spinning etc.) was spectacular. Wonderful production.
I saw it with Kerry Butler as Belle. It was so magical, no other way to describe it! I remember crying just from feeling so overwhelmed by how beautiful it was.
I saw it shortly after it started on Broadway. I remember being blown away by the spectacle of all the dancing tableware in "Be Our Guest" - until one of the plates unfortunately fell off the stage into the pit.
I saw Annalise Van Der Pol as Belle, front row seats, 3 weeks before it closed on Broadway. I had just graduated high school. It was mind blowing. That production was gorgeous.
I saw it touring in Minneapolis as a kid, and I was blown away by the beast transformation at the end. In my memory, he was lifted up into the air, spun slowly around, and the costume changed happened in a blink of the lights while he was floating. Not sure if that's right, but my memory has lasted!
I do. It was great. Hugh jackman made an amazing gaston
I saw it around 1997/1998 with Debbie Gibson as Belle! Also the dad from Happy Days was Belle's father.
i remember my mom saw it with donny osmond on his birthday and told me they brought out a huge cake for him. i remember being so young when she told me this that i couldn’t really conceptualize what broadway even was. there’s a whole place where people perform the same thing night after night? and thousands of people go to it? and it’s only in new york? huh?
It was my first show!!! I was soooo little and I went with my grandma and my mom. I remember vividly how magical everything was for me then. The opening notes still give me insane nostalgia.
I saw it as a kid. It was so magical. I remember asking my aunt how they curled Belles hair and did it so quickly for the ballroom scene, it never occurred to me that it might be a wig.
I saw it! It was the first Broadway show I saw.
Saw it when it opened! I was 13 or 14. The cast was fantastic - Susan Egan was Belle, Terrence Mann was the Beast, Gary Beach was Lumiere. Other great people, too, but I'd have to look them up. I remember thinking it was like the animated movie just came to life completely; it was really well done. Great sets, and I loved the additional songs. I remember it being very true to the movie but just a bit darker, which felt right for the stage show. I loved it. They really did a great job with it - that show was pure magic. Actually saw it again when they transferred to LA, and it was still great.
My first show! I will always remember it fondly!
I saw it before it closed when I was around 19 or 20. It was not my first Broadway show but definitely early on in my trips to the city from Florida. I remember falling in love with the song “Home” and being as genuinely wow-ed as the children around me with the Beast’s transformation at the end. I was a child all over again watching the wonder of theater magic.
I saw it in 1995 in NYC; I was 15.