Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage

Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Area	Sunset Boulevard
Status	Operating
Opening date	November 22, 1991
General statistics
Attraction type	Live show
Designer	Walt Disney Creative Entertainment
Theme	Beauty and the Beast
FastPass+ available
Wheelchair accessible
Assistive listening available

Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage! is a Broadway-style musical at the Theater of the Stars, on Sunset Boulevard, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World. It is based on the popular animated film Beauty and the Beast (the show opened on the same day as the film's premiere), including many of the original songs and characters. While most of the soundtrack is prerecorded, the actors playing Belle and Gaston speak and sing live. Two versions of the show have been presented since opening day.

The stage show changed considerably from the original version to the currently running version, causing it to more closely resemble 1991 film of the same name. However, because the show is condensed to approximately 25 minutes, many cuts and edits are made.

The show opens like the Broadway musical: An old beggar woman asks a spoiled and selfish prince if he will allow her to stay in his castle for the night from the bitter cold, in exchange for a single rose; to which the prince turns her away. Because his heart is cold, the old beggar woman turns into a beautiful enchantress who punishes the prince by transforming him in to an ugly, scary, and hideous Beast. Everyone in the castle gets a punishing transformation as well. The prince can only break the spell by learning to love another, and earning their love in return, and failure to do so will cause him to "remain a beast for all time".

Years later, Belle is walking in the quiet little French village where she lives. The other villagers agree that Belle is beautiful, but she is also no ordinary character. Gaston, the handsome young hunter of the town, boasts how he loves Belle and asks her to marry him.("Belle" / "Gaston"). Belle politely refuses. Soon though, "under a series of mysterious circumstances", Belle finds herself inside the Beast's enchanted castle. She is confronted by the magical castle inhabitants, Cogsworth the clock, Lumiere the candelabra, Mrs. Potts the teapot, and her son, Chip the teacup. Cogsworth thinks that they made a mistake by allowing Belle inside, but the others believe she could be the one to break the curse. So they throw her a feast and, simultaneously invite her to "Be Our Guest". The Beast abruptly ends the celebration and expresses his fear that Belle could never learn to love him. Belle, on a tour through the castle, enters the West Wing and discovers the rose. The Beast is furious at Belle, because he told her never to enter that part of the castle. All of this causes Belle and the Beast to argue. But the others advise Beast to be a gentleman, because Belle could be the one to break the curse. The castle's charming inhabitants discover that there is "Something There" that wasn't there before ("Something There"), and the two fall in love.