Music by Alan Menken • Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice • Book by Linda Woolverton

Based on the Academy Award winning animated feature, the stage version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast includes all of the wonderful songs from the film, written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (the team responsible for Little Shop of Horrors), plus new songs written especially for the Broadway version by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice (Aladdin, Aida).

Fine Arts Center audiences will be transported to a lovely French provincial town where the beautiful Belle lives with her father – a dotty inventor. When her father doesn’t return from a trip to the local fair, Belle rushes off to find him. To her dismay, she discovers he is being held captive in an old castle by a horrible beast. She trades her freedom for his and the "tale as old as time" begins.

"It is not everyday that a musical comes along that touches both children and adults," said Alan Osburn, FAC Director of Performing Arts. "It is one of those shows the kids will want to come back and see again as they can’t believe the movie they have cherished for years is happening live right before their eyes," he said. "Once is just not enough."

In 1991, the animated feature Beauty and the Beast became the first "cartoon" to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Prompted by the unprecedented success of the film, and by critics likening the music to that of a Broadway score, Disney executives began to develop a stage version with an eye toward the Great White Way. Award-winning composer Alan Menken wrote seven new songs for the stage production with Tim Rice, following the untimely death of Menken’s writing partner Howard Ashman.

This production is directed by Cory Moosman, who also directed the FAC’s 2006 production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and TheatreWorks’ 2007 production of Topdog/Underdog. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Steel City Theatre Company in Pueblo. As an actor he was last seen as the manic puppet guy, Millet, in the FAC’s production of Fuddy Meers as well as acting in Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Little Shop of Horrors and The 1940’s Radio Hour.

Natalie Jensen will play Belle and Brantley Scott Haines will be the Beast. Jensen was last seen as Belle in the FAC production of A Christmas Carol. Haines played Cinderella’s handsome, charming Prince – and the Wolf in Into the Woods. He also performed in Pirates of Penzance, the FAC’s top grossing musical of all-time. Gaston will be played by Malcolm Ulbrick, who has performed with Opera Theatre of the Rockies, the Colorado Springs Chorale and in the Colorado College’s Summer Music Festival. When not singing, Ulbrick is a strength and conditioning coach at Colorado College.

Sam Gleason (Lafou), David Plambeck (Maurice), Scott Rathbun (Cogworth), Shannon Wallnutt (Babette), Eryn Carman (Mrs. Potts), Nick Madson (Lumiere), Nan Rubley (The Wardrobe) and Jack Walker (Chip) round out the principle players; all of whom have diverse and deep background in musical theatre throughout the region. One item to note: Madson made his New York comedy debut last year at Caroline’s Comedy Corner and was voted one of the top 100 amateur comedians in the country by Comedy Central. Walker is a sixth-grader at Eagleview Middle School.

The creative team features Mary Ripper Baker (Choreographer) and Sandi Shroads (Musical Director). The design staff includes the incomparable Scenic Designer Christopher L. Sheley, who earned the 2006 Denver Post Ovation Award for "Best Set Design" for Pirates of Penzance; Elizabeth Fry (Costume Design), Holly A. Rawls (Lighting Design), Steve Stevens (Sound Design), and Jessica Rose (Properties Master).

Select members of the cast will be available following each show to greet members of the audience in the FAC lobby. Three Saturday Matinees will be performed at a reduced rate for families on May 17, 24, 31.