Video: Celebrate 30 Years of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

30 years ago today, on April 18, 1994, Disney's Beauty and the Beast opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre. The musical would go on to run for 46 previews and 5462 regular performances, making it the 10th longest-runing Broadway show of all time. 

Adapted from Walt Disney Pictures' Academy Award-winning 1991 animated feature, the stage musical features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. The musical marked Disney's first Broadway venture, with many more to come in the following decades following its success.

The original cast of Beauty and the Beast featured Susan Egan and Terrence Mann in the title roles, with Burke Moses (Gaston), Gary Beach (Lumiere), Beth Fowler (Mrs. Potts), and Heath Lamberts (Cogsworth).

The musical features several additional songs that were written for the stage show, including: "No Matter What," "Me," "Home," "If I Can't Love Her," "Human Again," and "A Change In Me" (added in 1998 during Toni Braxon's run).

 The original production was nominated for nine Tony Awards in 1994, winning for Best Costume Design. In 1998, the original London production won Best New Musical at the Laurence Olivier Awards.

Beauty and the Beast has been performed in more than 40 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Over 35 million people have seen the show worldwide and it has grossed more than $1.7 billion. It also remains an extremely popular title in high school theatre productions across the country.

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