History of Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage in Hollywood Studios

Welcome, my friend! (Whether we have met in person or not…Here, we are pals!)

We have a brand,spankin’ new video for you. This time is it somewhat inspired by our previous video—The HIstory of the Belle Costume in the Disney Parks. I noticed as I researched for that video that this show actually went through a few changes in its 30-year (and counting) run. So, I wanted to share them with you!

Now, Beauty and the Beast live on stage has been presented since opening day in 1991, with the exception of the closures caused by the pandemic, in which case it was replaced by Disney Society Orchestra and Friends. However, it was just recently announced that it will be making its return to Hollywood Studios shortly! This story has been performed multiple times all over the world in the Disney parks, most notably in Disneyland and Disneyland Paris in past years. I will only be taking a look at the version in Walt Disney World, though understandably Disney created those other versions as well.

Original version (1991–2001)

The original version opened on November 22, 1991, in Hollywood Studios, the same day the film was released. It’s host theater was the Theater of the Stars right on Sunset Boulevard. Now, if you are familiar with the modern version of the show, you will find this interesting. The original opening number was actually “Be Our Guest,” where all the enchanted pieces from the castle welcomed you as the audience to their show. A few things I want to point out here are the costumes, especially the Mrs. Potts who looks fairly cheerful and light here. One of the memorable on-stage tricks is the opera singer disguised as a sundae. You’ll see her again. And the dancing items on the bookshelves. They are really out of sync with the music here.

Next, Belle’s song was performed with Gaston’s song interjecting it. The scene ended pretty abruptly with the next scene starting with Belle already in the castle. It skips a huge portion of the story without much bridge between the two parts.

Next up was Something There. There wasn’t a lot of show with this song. I mean, it is a simple one, but they did not do much with the set or choreography.

Very quickly after this was the Mob Song with….bats dancing?? Yeah. Not only did Hollywood Studios get the Star Wars Ballet, but they got the Bat ballet. And random fire. Yeah, one little spark…oops wrong one…we got one little spark of fire! And that’s it. You never see the fire again. The whole show. Just here.

Then we get to quite possibly the scene that changed the most over the years. In the original though, the transformation scene of the Beast mostly has him hidden behind a heaping cloak. The actor would sometimes move it up and down to have it go with the lines. It was the best they could do with the directions they had, but it was a bit…awkward.

In the earliest version the cloak would lift up and you could see some lighting and sometimes projections on the cloak and then voila! The prince would appear! In the meantime, Belle would have snuck off to do a quick 30 second (!!!) change to meet the Prince at the top of the stairs. Here they would dance together alone for a bit and then were joined by the cast. The dance scene was drawn out a bit and Belle and the Beast would meet at the top of the stairs for a bit before returning to the stage to carrying out the last of Tale as Old as Time. Now, on opening day they did have the costumed Beast walk down with Belle, but that was the last time I’ve seen this. Let me know if you have seen it another time! My favorite part about this though was the doves that would be released at the end. Such a special touch!

Okay, let’s take a closer look at this whole fight and transformation scene. First notice the backdrop, because that is going to change later. The backdrop is honestly kind of odd, because while it is pretty, that means this whole scene is taking place far away from the castle. Anywaaaay… Maybe I’m getting too detailed.

Okay, to the fight scene, Gaston confronted the Beast and they had a quick tussle. Back and forth. Some growling. Belle comes in a ushers the Beast away, covering his head with his cloak. When Gaston goes in to give one more blow, Belle pushes him away with quite the dramatic scream. As awkward as it was it had a reason—misdirection.

You see, by drawing attention to herself, the audience watches Belle push Gaston away. Honestly, she is very active in this scene. This allows enough time for the costumed beast actor to switch out for the prince. He scoots out from backstage and lands right on the ground. When he stands you can see his feet and they make sure to at least show something of him—his paws, his feet and tattered pants. It associates in your head that he is the Beast. But then off comes the cloak and there is the prince dressed in his formal suite! Can I mention 30 second change again? I’ve been told this is the magic of a substance known as Velcro…lots of Velcro.

This method was used for years, having the costumed Beast switch with the prince backstage. And with it being performed so many times, you can see some of the tricks for the illusion.

1993

Theater of the Stars was moved in September 1993 as they were building Sunset Boulveard at the time. The show was temporarily moved to the Premiere Theater, and it reopened in July 1994 in the new, rebuilt Theater of the Stars, but that’s all you need to know about this time. Moving on!

Updated Version (2001-Present)

In 2001, the performance actually had the most dramatic changes yet. Up until now it had been little projection differences or maybe entrances that were a tad different. The rose being added to the Something There scene. Again, little things.

The second version of the show debuted in March 2001 and entirely changed the structure of the show to tell the story just a bit more cohesively.

· "Prologue: The Enchantress"

· "Belle"/"Gaston"

· "Belle (Reprise)"

· "Be Our Guest"

· "Something There"

· "The Mob Song"

· "Beauty and the Beast"

The theater and show had a few refurbishments done in 2004, 2013, and 2019, but nothing too major was altered during this time. The most prominent alteration was actually Belle’s dress which we covered in a previous video. A few of the details were changed on her dress, most noticeably the lace at the sleeves, but you can catch our other video for a better look at that!

On August 15, 2021, Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage will be returning to its home at the Theater of the Stars for the first time since March 2020. Thankfully it is before November 22, which is the 30th anniversary of the show, making it the longest running theme park show in history!

As of the posting of this, we do not know if the show will be updated at all with its reopening. Still, we are more than thrilled to see it making its return to the stage!

Thank-you for watching, friend. You are so appreciated!