Today In Disney History ~ July 7th
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. Based on the 1991 film of the same name, which was in turn adapted from the French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Beauty and the Beast tells the story of a prince who is transformed into a hideous beast as punishment for his cruel and selfish ways, and an adventurous young woman named Belle whom he imprisons in his castle. In order to become human again, the Beast must earn Belle’s love before it’s too late. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical. Beauty ran on Broadway for 5,461 performances between 1994 and 2007, becoming Broadway’s ninth longest-running production in history.
The musical has grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide and played in thirteen countries and 115 cities.It has also become a popular choice for high school productions.
Reception towards the tryouts in Houston were so enthusiastic that the production was extended for two weeks. Jerome Weeks of Variety responded to the show with a positive review, praising the performances of Egan, Mann and Moses, as well as the Beast’s new song “If I Can’t Love Her”. At the same time, Weeks felt that the production “gets close to slipping into a big-budget kiddie show or magic act with its overdone showbiz glitz and sparkly stage-illusion effects”at times, but in the end predicted that “‘Beauty and the Beast’ could well be the big new musical hit this Broadway season has been waiting for. However, in 1994, Beauty and the Beast finally premiered on Broadway to reviews that ranged from mixed to negative, leaving critics mostly unimpressed. Reactions from the New York theatre community and Broadway producers were particularly harsh, ridiculing Disney for deciding to produce the musical themselves as opposed to enlisting traditional theatre companies. Egan recalled that “the same five families [had] produced Broadway shows for a hundred years and Disney shook that up
TMSM Today in Graphic by Sherry Rinaldi DeHart; Wiki 
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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