For Tony Award winner Gary Beach, his association with “Beauty and the Beast” pretty much began the way the rest of ours did. In a movie
theater.
“I was living in LA when Disney premiered the film at the El
Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. It was a really big deal. They had a
stage show before the movie,” Beach recalled. “So I went and I just loved it. I
mean, almost ridiculously.”
“So I’m sitting there, watching ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ And of
course – from the opening number on – you know that it’s a great musical,” Gary
continued. “And in the middle of ‘Be Our Guest,’ Jerry Orbach’s singing the
hell out of that song and I’m sitting there thinking ‘Now why can’t I get a
part like that?’ “
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Now jump ahead two
years and Beach is working with Carol Burnett. They’re in the final phase of
rehearsals on a new show that’s trying out in Los Angeles. Working 12 hour days
to get this show ready for its opening night.
“And then I get this call from Jay Binder. He’s still a
casting a director here in New York. And at that time, Jay was casting the
workshop version of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ” Gary said. “And Jay asked me if I’d
come out to New York and play Lumiere in this workshop.”
But because he’s already committed to doing this show with
Burnett, Beach feels like he has to turn
Binder down. But Jay is really persistent. He keeps calling and calling. So
Gary finally decides to discuss this unique opportunity with Carol.
Gary Beach and Tim Conway pay tribute to Carol Burnett back in 2003 as part of
the 26th annual Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts.
Photo by Tony Esparza / CBS Photo Archives / Getty Images. All rights reserved
“So I tell her about the workshop. And she tells me that I
have to go do it,” Gary said. “And the next thing I know, I’m onstage with
Heath (Lamberts, the actor who played Cogsworth in the original Broadway cast of “Beauty and the Beast‘). And as I strike the classic Lumiere pose … It just
felt so right.”
Mind you, it wasn’t always easy being playing this courtly candelabra.
Beach recalled one night under those hot Broadway lights where things got even
hotter than usual onstage.
“There’s this scene in the first act of the show where
(Terrence Mann, the original Beast in the show) is sitting in his throne and we’re
all begging him to do something. I’m standing there with my arms up in the air.
And Terry’s looking at me and his eyes get very big,” Gary laughed. “And he keeps giving me this (furtive head
nods). So I finally look over and see that my hand’s on fire.”
(L to R) Tom Bosley, Heath Lamberts and Gary Beach in the original
Broadway production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Copyright
Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
“And it wasn’t supposed to be,” Mann chimed in.
“And I’d been assured by the people at Disney that all of
this stuff was flame-retardant,” Beach continued. “So I think I just stop and blow the flames
out.”
“And the audiences then thinks: ‘Oh, that must be part of the show,” Terrence
smiled.
Terrence Mann in the original Broadway production of Disney’s
“Beauty and the Beast.” Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
Both Beach & Mann had to deal with problematic costumes
during the years that they spent appearing in Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
Terrance likened his Beast outfit to ” … wearing your heaviest winter coats,
three or four of them, and then get three or four Angora cats and gaffer taping
them to your head and then running around the block 10 or 12 times.”
Gary had a similar sort of analogy when it came to describing
the physical challenges he faced while playing Lumiere. He compared holding up those
two propane tanks that he wore on the ends of
each hands during every performance to ” … picking up a couple of Hormel Hams and then
walking around the grocery store with them for 2 ½ hours.”
But Mann insisted that Beach was always extremely smart when
it came to the way that he approached playing this part.
Gary Beach strikes a familiar pose back in April of 2004 at the 10th
anniversary celebration of “Beauty & the Beast” ‘s Broadway opening.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
“We had a long rehearsal process with ‘Beauty and the Beast.’
We were in Houston, we were out of town for a while, and then we went back into
rehearsal once we were back in New York. Disney was constantly refining
everything associated with this show,” Terrence explained. “But Gary – being
the smart man that he was – he carried around weights the whole time that we
were in rehearsal. So slowly but surely Gary built up his stamina. Other people
who came into this part after him quickly developed shoulder problems. But not
him.”
Of course, Mann & Beach weren’t the only ones who worked
hard on “Beauty and the Beast.” These two Broadway vets were quick to praise
Linda Woolverton, the screenwriter of the original animated feature who then went
on to write the book for the stage musical version of “Beast.”
“I’ve never been in a show where a writer worked harder than
(Linda) worked. she was there every day all day long,” Gary remembered. “Always
open to any suggestions or requests that the actors might make. Not always acquiescing,
mind you. But Linda was always willing
to listen to us.”
“Beauty and the Beast” screenwriter & book author
Linda Woolverton. Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved
But even with all this talent, it was still touch-and-go for
a while there. Michael Eisner & Co. took quite a while before they finally
decided to go forward with production of the Walt Disney Company’s first
really-for-real Broadway show.
“Back in the old days, when people would decide if they
actually wanted to go forward with production of a particular Broadway show,
you’d wind up onstage performing in front of 6 or 8 people. Who’d be sitting
out there in the dark,” Mann explained.
“But when we had that final audition for Disney management,
we performed in front of this theater full of people on 42nd Street.
It was all these Disney bigwigs and the secretaries,” Beach recalled. “Thank
God that they liked it. Because Disney then gave us the go-ahead to do ‘Beauty
and the Beast’ on Broadway.”
42nd Street during the Summer of 1998. After The Walt Disney Company had spent
tens of millions of dollars to revitalize this long-decayed Broadway neighborhood.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
“And because Disney came to Broadway and then fixed up the
New Amsterdam on 42nd Street, that then led to Times Square being
fixed up. Which changed the face of Broadway forever,” Mann said. “And all of
this because a show that – let’s be honest here – is kind of a glorified piece
of children’s theater.”
Well, Disney’s first Broadway musical may have been based on
an animated cartoon. But that didn’t mean that Gary, Terrence and the rest of
the cast didn’t then take their job seriously.
“That was the challenge every night. Keeping things fresh.
Making sure that what was happening up there onstage always felt like it was
happening for the first time,” Mann stated. “Because while you may have played
this same role dozens – if not hundreds – of time before, this is probably the
first time that the audience has ever seen this show. Which is why you really owe
to them to practice your craft, try and make your performance seem new each
night.”
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
Gary echoed Terrence’s statement, saying ” … the experience
of live theater should be just thrilling. If it is, then it’s great. And if it’s
not, then why are you doing it?”
And Mann & Beach felt that the people who working
behind-the-scenes on Disney’s first Broadway musical had the same level of passion
when it came to this show. For they were always looking for new ways to make “Beast”
better.
“I was with the show, on and off, for at least three or four
years. And during that time, even though this show was already open and running, the people
at Disney kept working on Lumiere’s hands,” Beach said. “They must have changed
the design, improved those things like three or four times. Each time making
them lighter and easier to operate.”
Gary Beach as Lumiere in the original
Broadway company of Disney’s “Beauty
and the Beast.” Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
So once Disney’s technicians swapped out Lumiere’s hands,
did Gary ever think to take one of the old ones home to keep as a souvenir? Sadly, no. Though Mann did admit that –
somewhere stashed in one of the closets at his home – he does have the original
costume for Broadway’s Beast.
“I called it the exoskeleton. I haven’t looked at it in
years,” Terrence admitted. “I bet – by this point – it’s probably all rotted away,
fallen apart.”
Well, that may be the case. But at least these two still
have their memories of working on Disney’s first-ever Broadway musical. And if you’d
like to learn more about the stage version of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,”
then you may want to consider purchasing the Diamond Edition Blu-ray of this Academy Award-winning film. For among the Special Features included on this
3-disc set is “Broadway Beginnings.” Which is a special featurette that
includes interviews with veteran stage performers like Beach & Mann who
appeared in the original Broadway company of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
Gary Beach and Terrence Mann at last week’s press event for the Diamond
Edition Blu-ray of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Photo by Florence Doyle
For if you like the stories that were featured into today’s
JHM article … Well, there’s dozens more where those came from.
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