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Beauty and the Beast to Close July 29; Little Mermaid to Open in December

Steve Blanchard in Beauty and the Beast (© Joan Marcus)

Disney's Beauty and the Beast will end its 13-year run on Broadway on July 29. The company's newest stage musical, The Little Mermaid, will begin previews at Beauty's current home, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, on November 3 and will open officially on December 6.

The Little Mermaid, which will have a pre-Broadway tryout at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts beginning on July 26, is based on Disney's Oscar-winning 1989 animated film. Adapted from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, with a book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Doug Wright, the musical tells the story of Ariel, a beautiful young mermaid who longs to leave her ocean home.

The show will be directed by Francesca Zambello, with choreography Stephen Mear. The movie's Oscar-winning score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman will be supplemented by nine new songs by Menken and his Sister Act collaborator Glenn Salter. The production team also includes George Tsypin (sets), Tatiana Noginova (costume), and Natasha Katz (lighting). No casting has yet been announced.

Beauty and the Beast officially opened at the Palace Theatre on April 18, 1994 and transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne on November 11, 1999. At the time of its closing, it will have played 56 previews and 5,464 performances. Directed by Robert Jess Roth, the show has a book by Linda Woolverton and a score by Ashman, Menken, and Tim Rice. It received nine Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, but won only for Ann Hould-Ward's costume design.

The show currently stars Deborah Lew, Steve Blanchard, Stephen Buntrock, John Tartaglia, Jeanne Lehman, Jonathan Freeman, Jamie Ross, Meredith Inglesby, Mary Stout, and Aldrin Gonzalez.

 

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