And in honor of the occasion, I repeat my favorite critic quote from when the show first opened (and back when Disney *first* thought that Broadway shows were "sorta like" theme park shows, only bigger, long before they ever dreamed shows would look like "Lion King"):
"...Shouldn't they be doing this on ice skates?"  :)

I'm hoping that B&TB can last for another 1,000 shows.  If Disney does decide to kick out B&TB for TLM, at least it's had a great run.  5,000-something performances is a great feat for any show.  I wonder if TLM does not replace B&TB and plays in a different theater if that will hurt the turn-out for B&TB...so it might be smart to replace the old show with the new show.  If so, maybe Jeff Lange can make a DVD about B&TB, because I'll probably never be able to see it...

I can only hope that this breathes some life into the show.  B&TB is the only broadway show I've tried to get my money back after seeing.

Twelve years ago my family and I had the pleasure of seeing Beauty and the Beast just weeks after it opened at the Palace Theater on Broadway. As regular Broadway theater patrons we were captivated by the artistry displayed on the stage that evening. This animated featured had been transformed into a world-class musical theater event. Two weeks ago we attended Beauty for the second time with my brothers family.  We should have left the theater after “No Matter What” and demanded a refund. Gaston sang out of tune, Maurice barely sang and didn’t even attempt to act. The Beast sang out of tune and delivered most lines with little emotion or passion. When Terrance Mann played the Beast I felt his aching for Belle’s affection. This current Beast just made me ache. Lumiere needs more help than this space will allow. Dancers were out of step and you could see them counting beats. Belle and Mrs. Potts were excellent, the only two on stage worthy of this accolade. Worst of all, this dramatic piece of musical theater has become campy and juvenile. My nieces and nephew (13, 12, 12 & 8) sat quietly and politely throughout the show. Afterwards all they had to say was that the costumes and scenery were great. The night before we saw “Wicked”. I wish you could have heard their accolades for that production. You would see a better presentation of beauty and the Beast and save a lot of money by seeing the 20 minute version at Disney-MGM Studios or better yet, just rent the DVD where this classic will always be a classic. I’d love to know what Linda Woolverton and Alan Menken thought of this dummied down production!

I had much the same experience as Topollino.  I saw this production three times the first year and it was still magical.  Now it's an embarrassment and the butt of musical theatre jokes.  From this year's Gypsy of the Year competition:

"Did you see Lestat?"  
"No, but I saw that show with the zombies--Beauty and the Beast."

hi guys,
I also saw BEAUTY AND THE BEAST in its original run at the Palace Theatre shortly after it opened, and then again about four years ago. At the time I was still enchanted by the performance (Andrea Macardle was a terrific Belle) but thought that the scenery was starting to look a little cut-down and cut rate. I am sorry to hear that the performers have gone lackluster, but know from personal experience how tough it can be to maintain enthusiasm in a long run (I myself did over 150 performances of ANNIE on the national tour and let me tell you, after a while it feels like WORK). A good friend was in LES MISERABLE at the end of that run and told me that when the original producers came and saw the show its last year, they immediately fired more than half the cast for unprofessionalism and lowered standards of performance.
Id love to see BEAUTY AND THE BEAST go all the way to the top performances, passing OH, CALCUTTA, but unless the show recieves a major shot in the arm, it probably wont.
too bad.
I do however, sympathize with the performers.

I know its called a play.. but its WORK!

solgrundy said:
"I had much the same experience as Topollino.  I saw this production three times the first year and it was still magical.  Now it's an embarrassment and the butt of musical theatre jokes.  From this year's Gypsy of the Year competition:
'Did you see Lestat?'  
'No, but I saw that show with the zombies--Beauty and the Beast.'"
---
When a show like Les Miz, Cats or Producers gets past the 3000 point, and is just propped up on "NYC landmark" tourist business, it's going through the motions, begging for the Movie Version to show it to out-of-towners for free and put it out of its misery...Which can be kind of a problem with Disney-movie musicals that can't fall back on that.

The long-running late-80's/early-90's "Grease" revival, with its similar rotation of stunt-cast prop-up celebrities, also became a butt of local theater-community jokes:  "[Star] broke a mirror in her dressing room, which means seven more years in the 'Grease' revival--Aka 'Community service for soap-opera actors'."  :)

Random question because I can ask it: Jim, were you at the NYC Disney Store on Tuesday?  I swear I saw a guy I thought might possibly be you.... I could be crazy however.  Just curious

I've seen B+TB twice now and it is still an amazing show.
Nice to see it get to this milestone.

How long has the majority of the recent cast been in the show?  You'd think that there would be plenty of qualified actors that would want to work on B&TB that could make it a quality show.  Why would the original cast be so much better than the current cast?  Audiences surely still want to see the show, so it's not like there's no reception from the audience for the actors to play off of.  Maybe Disney should do some recasting...?

Dude:

Learn how to spell.  It's Lunt-Fontanne.  You even have a picture of the Playbill with the name printed on it.  I clearly remember a missive you wrote a few years back.  It was the middle of winter and NYC had been hit by 3 snowstorms in 2 weeks and all of Broadway business was down.  At the time you rang the death knell for B&B, attacking one of your favorite targets for good measure.  You are such an unprofessional hack; like an autograph hound with no life you "report" on this stuff like you're some kind of industry insider, yet everything you write here is pretty much a thinly-vieled attack on the topic at hand.  puh-lease.