The lead cast members of hit broadway musical, Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, were in Singapore yesterday to give a sneak preview of what’s to come when the show opens here.
The musical is one of the longest running shows on broadway (more than 13 years). And we hear that the show has been revamped by the original creative team for the international tour. Now in Bangkok, the 59-strong company will make its way to Singapore on March 21.
We got up close to Hilary Maiberger and Darick Pead, who play Belle and The Beast respectively, on their favourite scenes from the show, what’s different from the film and what goes on behind the scenes.
Here’s why we’re so excited to catch the performance:
#1 A SONG CUT FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE HAS BEEN RESTORED
Apart from featuring six songs from the Academy award-winning feature, a song that was cut from the original movie has been restored for the musical. What song will that be? We don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s something to watch out for!
Six extra songs were also written for the musical ‒ we got a preview of one of them yesterday. The song, Change Me, performed by Belle, also happens to be Darick’s favourite from the show. What? Isn’t everyone’s favourite song supposed to be Beauty and The Beast by default?
Well people, Hilary performed it yesterday and it’s pretty moving to watch, especially after hearing how the scene plays out.
This is what Darick said: “It’s just the set is in a way that it looks like the sun is going down, and it just is remarkably beautiful as she’s singing this song about how she’s had a change. It’s actually one of my favourite songs.”
Speaking of spectacular scenes, let’s move on to #2.
#2 THE COSTUMES, SETS AND CHOREOGRAPHY ARE CRAZY ELABORATE
“I love watching ‘Be Our Guest’, that’s one of my favourites. There’s so much cool stuff going on from the costume changes to the choreography, to the champagne bottles and confetti,” said Hilary, when asked about her favourite song from the show.
Image: Disney’s Beauty and The Beast
Yup, those mugs and glasses you see clinking in the movie have been specially timed for the musical.
Image: Disney’s Beauty and The Beast
What’s more, the costumes are Tony award winning. (It’s a huge deal. An easy way to think of it is like the Oscars of live theatre.) The two performers shared that the ensemble cast has about six or seven costume changes and there’s an entirely different show going on backstage from just the wardrobe changes. Belle only goes through about three ‒ the blue, pink and of course, the yellow ball gown.
Image: Disney’s Beauty and The Beast
What’s surprising to note is that The Beast’s costume takes just 35 minutes to put on ‒ nose, eyebrows and hair included (and here we are taking 2 hours to do our hair and makeup). Bravo team, bravo.
#3 SINGAPOREAN REFERENCES AND HIDDEN MICKEYS?
Afraid that your little ones won’t be able to “follow” the show? Well here’s a little fun activity you can get them to do ‒ spot the hidden Mickeys in the set.
Image: Disney’s Beauty and The Beast
We found a few in this picture, though we weren’t specifically told that it would be in this scene. Official details have said that you’ll find hidden Mickeys in a specific backdrop that we’ve loosely mentioned here. Which one is it? We won’t spoil it for you, but we’ll leave you with a hint: The set is among those featured here.
We doubt you’ll be having much trouble with the kids though, the performance is said to be pretty interactive. Think streamers over the audience and… Singaporean references?
Hilary played it coy in response to the likelihood of having such references when asked, but we think we know what that means.
All right, Beauty and The Beast loyalists, we’re done enough teasing. We’ve leave you with a little snippet of the two performers singing the iconic song. Two words: Can’t, wait!
Disney’s Beauty and The Beast hits theatres 21 March 2015. Ticket prices start from $65 (excluding $3 booking fee) and are available at Base Entertainment Asia, Marina Bay Sands’ Ticketing and Sistic.
