When Beauty and the Beast first appeared in movie theaters, noted New York Times reporter Frank Rich announced that the best new musical to come was not on any stage but on the screen. Since then, the show has been transformed to become a stage piece and we are delighted to present it to our friends at Olney Theatre. As a third generation of music lovers come to fall under the spell of this enchanting story, Marcia Milgrom Dodge (director of Olney's Once and Broadway's revival of Ragtime) took the creative charge of telling this "tale as old as time"  while celebrating the many definitions of beauty that exist in our world.

 

This story, and in particular the score, certainly captured my imagination when I took my then girlfriend (now wife) to see it in the 90s.  I had grown on, and then faded on, hearing the music of Disney animated features. After years of "passing" on their films, I was pleasantly surprised when I first saw Little Mermaid as the songs written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken were both traditional and forward-looking in their storytelling. But Beauty and the Beast had something new - the humor and cleverness of the lyrics of "Be Our Guest", the lushness of the ballroom scene of "Beauty and the Beast", the transformative power of patience and generosity in "Something There" and the manipulative stoking of blind and senseless rage in "The Mob Song". Plus, add one of the greatest villain songs ever, "Gaston", and a near perfect expository opening song, "Belle", that rivals the opening songs of Sondheim, and you get a masterpiece of a cohesive score; a score that has entered the canon of America's songbook.

 

In of itself, this is a marvelous achievement. But when you wrap this music in a story that deals with the extraordinary power of empathy, it creates a tale that can transform us in troubled times. We are hoping that this production will share this wonderful truth with you, your children and your grandchildren.

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--Chris Youstra, Director of Musical Theatre