With New Beauty and the Beast Tour, Linda Woolverton and Matt West Retell the Tale as Old as Time

When Beauty and the Beast premiered in 1991, it almost instantly became part of the zeitgeist. The first animated feature to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Beauty and the Beast helped cement the new golden age of Disney animation that began with The Little Mermaid in 1989, and not too long after it hit the screen, it went into development for the stage.

At the front of the Beauty and the Beast journey, alongside songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, is Linda Woolverton, screenwriter of the motion picture and book writer for the stage musical that premiered on Broadway in 1994. By her side for the last three decades is Matt West, the original choreographer of the stage production, who now helms a reimagined 30th anniversary tour which begins on Wednesday.

Here, Woolverton and West reflect on the origins of the project—from the creative pivots that gave voice to enchanted objects, to the challenge of translating animation into physical stagecraft. They also share how their approach to Belle, the Beast, and the show’s world has matured over time, resulting in a refreshed production that balances nostalgia with innovation. With decades of connection to the material, the two longtime collaborators discuss what it means to revisit a classic—and why this “tale as old as time” still resonates so powerfully.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Tell me about the evolution of Beauty and the Beast from screenplay to stage play. Let’s go all the way back.
Linda Woolverton: I was hired to write a non-musical screenplay [for the film], which I did. There was another director attached. And then, things were heating up about Little Mermaid, so they thought, “Why not turn Beauty and the Beast into a musical?”

They flew me to meet Howard Ashman, which I think was a test to see if we would hit it off. We hit it off great because I was willing to throw everything out and start again. Basically, what Howard said was, “Who’s going to sing my songs?” Because the objects didn’t talk. And I said, “Well, I guess we’re going to fix that.”

Matt West: I was in California doing some work for Disney. We [West, original Beauty and the Beast director Rob Roth, and scenic designer Stanley E. Meyer] had done a live stage show of Dick Tracy for the parks [Dick Tracy Starring in Diamond Double Cross]. [Former Walt Disney Company CEO] Michael Eisner used to come to rehearsal all the time because he’s a theater guy. I’d turn around and he’d be there in his jeans, petting his dog.

We went to Michael and said, “How about Broadway for Disney?” And he said, “We don’t do Broadway. We’re not going to do Broadway.” However, as we left the room, he said, “You can ask me again,” which I thought was very odd.

We took about six months, presented our idea for a show, and they said, “Go work on that for a little bit.” Then, Beauty and the Beast opened, and Michael called us and said, “What about that for a Broadway show?” And we said, “Well, you know, it’s a talking teapot,” because we were so into our other project.

That’s how we started. They sent us Linda’s animation script and we dove into it. Linda was on vacation in Hawaii.

Linda: I had a little message under my door to call Disney immediately. And they said, “Just come back.” I didn’t really know why. I was on vacation with my 2-year-old. I’m not coming back. There’s no way. They paid for another week there. Left the kid with my husband. Went back for a day at the Four Seasons Hotel in LA, and they did the big presentation, which was magic.

Matt: We had mocked up Chip. We mocked up some magic ideas. And it went on from there. We had no idea where we were going with the characters yet. That was all Linda.

Linda: The biggest challenge was our objects and the whole concept that they’re played by people you can see, who are gradually becoming things. It changed a lot.

Obviously, the show works, and it has worked for 30 years. When it comes to reimagining it for a new tour, where do you begin?
Matt: When Disney was ready to send it out again—and it’s been about 23 years [since the last tour]—they asked if we wanted to reimagine it. In my mind, it’s a project that lends itself to being updated. She’s a contemporary heroine in a fairy-tale setting. That can be anything. I’ve learned a lot. We’ve all grown up. We all have new ideas. We have new technology, fabrics, textures, illusions, lighting. You have so many new toys to play with, so why not update her while keeping the essence of what this magical musical has already?

There was almost too much to think about. In the original, there were giant set pieces, and now we’re going to have more room on stage, because we have LED screens. I started with some of the songs and the dancing, because I have a lot more space. I reimagined all of the musical numbers, with David Chase doing the dance music. “Be Our Guest” is now a huge tap number, which is what I always wanted it to be. “Gaston” has feats of wonder where he shoots arrows. It’s just amped up.

Linda: We’ve been with the show for so long that we understand what needs trimming and what we don’t need anymore, so it’s a cleaner, more elegant version. There were a lot of things we wanted to change, like the way Belle is perceived. We never really looked at the fact that she’s just being offered up to the Beast on a silver platter. I had to address that, so I added an additional moment with Mrs. Potts and Madame to let us know that they are aware this is happening, and make Belle understand that she just has to trust.

I’ve actually been rewriting things for the last five years. Let’s try a new Monsieur D’Arque scene. I did that and we threw it out, and you go back in. It’s been a constant evolution. I have just written new scenes, which is crazy.

Matt: For this production. I was in Australia last October watching our company there, and I had a thought about some placement for new scenes, so Linda wrote them and they work really well for the characters.

Linda: The characters are embedded in my soul, and it’s been fun to go back and play with my friends. That’s how I feel—they’re just good friends.

Beauty and the Beast was my first movie and my first Broadway show. There’s a stage show that’s been playing since 1991 at Walt Disney World. There’s a relatively new Beauty and the Beast ride at Tokyo Disneyland. How do you intellectually process the fact that you created this thing that’s going to live on forever?
Matt: When people come up and say these things, it’s heartwarming. I feel old for a moment and then, it’s heartwarming. You feel like you’ve made a moment in people’s lives that they’ll always remember.

Linda: I didn’t think it was going to take on the proportions that it has. It certainly wouldn’t have, I don’t think, without the show. Because of the show, it’s constantly in the zeitgeist. It’s not just a movie that people watch every five years. We’re all over the place all the time.

Matt: Worldwide. We’ve heard it in German, Japanese, Spanish, French … it has been crazy fun.

Linda: It’s very humbling. It makes me very grateful.