Fun Facts About Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

GENERAL INFO

•	The show began its out-of-town previews in Houston, TX at the Theatre Under the Stars on December 2, 1993.

•	The previews on Broadway began at the Palace Theatre on March 10, 1994.

•	The Broadway opening night was April 18, 1994.

•	Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is now in its seventh year on Broadway, and currently playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City.

•	Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST can be seen currently in three productions around the world: New York, The U.S. National Tour, and Madrid.

•	Productions have also been mounted in London, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Sapporo, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, Vienna, Osaka, Mexico City, and Nagoya.

•	The U.S. National Touring Companies have played in cities including; Minneapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, Hartford, Ft. Lauderdale, East Lansing, Louisville, Tulsa, San Antonio, Des Moines, Memphis, Nashville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Providence, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Rochester, Green Bay, Columbus, Norfolk, Orlando, Raleigh, and Charlotte.

•	The U.S. National Tour has 32 cast members and 15 orchestra musicians.

•	Thirty-five crew members are needed backstage to run the show.

•	BEAUTY has now been seen by over 17 million people worldwide.

TECHNICAL INFO

•	There are an estimated 1.5 miles of automation cable.
•	There are an estimated 5.6 miles of lighting cable.
•	There are 300 lighting instruments in the show, 52 of which are moving lighting fixtures (also known as Vari*Lites).
•	About 318,750 watts of electricity are used to light the show.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

•	There are 37 special effects in the show.
•	11 magic tricks are used.
•	The Enchantress’ Fireball is the first known throwable handheld device of its kind, and was a year and a half in development.  She can hold the ball of fire in her hand until it burns out without any physical damage.
•	Lumiere’s hands are made of flame proof plastic surrounding a flame device that uses one ounce of liquid butane per hand per show.

COSTUMES & HAIR

•	Costume designer Ann Hould-Ward won a Tony Award for the costumes she designed for Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
•	The 30inch length human hair needed to build Belle’s wig was specially imported from India.
•	It took 20 pounds of human hair and 400 man hours to create the first Beast.
•	The Beast needs three people to help him into makeup, prosthetics, hair and finally wardrobe in order to transform him into character.  Originally, this process took over three hours before each performance.  It now only takes one hour.
•	50 lbs. of hair pins are ready to go at all times backstage.
•	The Beast’s tail is made up of 7 yards of human hair.