Theater Review: Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast: The Musical" Tour Reimagines a Broadway Classic
“If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it."
Cogsworth delivers one of my favorite lines in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a sentiment that fittingly applies to Disney Theatrical’s new touring production, Beauty and the Beast: The Musical. The show that kick-started Disney’s presence on Broadway in 1994 is back, celebrating its return with a premiere in Schenectady, NY. I was in attendance for opening night as the show prepares to traverse the nation through at least fall 2026.
Ever since Disney’s lavish Broadway production closed in 2007, I’ve been yearning for the show’s return to its former glory. A licensed touring version ran domestically from 2010 to 2016, largely sticking to the script while omitting a few songs and drastically scaling down the sets and costumes. Gone were many of the elements that had helped convince even Broadway skeptics that Disney could transcend its theme park reputation. That tour likely satisfied audiences unfamiliar with the original, but for returning fans hoping to recapture the magic, it felt like a dismal step down.
After nearly a decade’s absence, Disney Theatrical has revived Beauty and the Beast: The Musical. This new version builds on the 2021 UK National Tour directed by Matt West, which was followed by a 2023 tour in Australia before arriving in the U.S. in 2025. The current tour upcycles costumes, set design, musical arrangements, and script changes. As with its original version, it’s still a great evening at the theater, especially for families. It’s superior to the previous national tour and likely a more impressive spectacle than most community theaters can mount. But don’t expect the grandeur that made the show’s original Broadway run such a defining success.
This latest iteration comes after Disney’s 2017 live-action remake, which has influenced several creative decisions. Most prominently, it includes Howard Ashman’s once-cut lyrics in the “Beauty and the Beast" reprise (“Winter turns to spring, famine turns to feast…"). LeFou’s affection for Gaston is also portrayed more openly than in the animated film or original stage version, though still subtler than Josh Gad’s take on the character.
Original book writer Linda Woolverton returned to make adjustments for this version. One of the clearest updates is new dialogue written to work around the omission of Maurice’s song, “No Matter What." In this staging, he invents a solar-powered scooter and literally rides an ECV to the fair. Beast is also given a bit more stage time, softening his earlier behavior by attempting to make amends after denying Belle dinner. Other cuts include “Maison Des Lunes" and “The Battle," which means “The Mob Song" now jumps straight to Gaston’s confrontation with Beast, skipping over the potential for creative staging that once injected tension and comedy into that sequence.
The musical landscape has also shifted. A new overture in the prologue incorporates “A Change in Me," a song introduced to the Broadway production in 1998 but not present on the original cast album. That same melody underscores Maurice’s ECV scene for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. Belle’s first verse of “Something There" (“There’s something sweet, and almost kind…") is removed, starting the number instead with Beast’s entrance (“She glanced this way, I thought I saw…"). Elsewhere, songs like “Home" feature slightly faster tempos and tweaked orchestrations.
Costume-wise, Belle’s golden ball gown is a highlight. Adorned with crystal accents and a rose-petal motif, it’s not a replica of the film’s or Broadway’s version, but it strikes a satisfying balance between nostalgia and novelty. Lumiere’s flame hands are another standout, cleverly designed and frequently used. More puzzling is Beast’s appearance: he spends most of the show in a leather (or pleather) vest with a scaly back that merges into his tail. The effect is more off-putting than endearing and unintentionally aligns him with the only other leather-clad character, Gaston — a visual connection that undermines the contrast between them. The Enchantress, meanwhile, wears a gown made of mirror discs that feels completely out of sync with the production’s aesthetic. Most of the enchanted object costumes fall somewhere between inventive and pragmatic: Mrs. Potts sports a prom dress with her arm in a teapot spout, and the wardrobe resembles a skirt made from two drawer fronts.
Scenically, the show leans heavily on an LED back wall, and it’s one of the most successful implementations of the technology I’ve seen on stage. Smaller physical pieces are layered over the screen, such as a garden wall for Belle and Maurice’s home or sliding Art Nouveau-inspired panels for the castle. The LED environments integrate seamlessly, often blending so well that audience members may not even notice what’s physical and what’s digital. Lighting cues are tightly synchronized with the screen, enhancing depth and dimension. Occasional animations, like twinkling stars during the ballroom dance, are tasteful, showing restraint that allows the technology to enhance rather than dominate the storytelling.
That said, Beauty and the Beast: The Musical gets off to a rocky start. The first true “wow" moment doesn’t arrive until “Gaston," more than halfway through Act I. As with the original production, that song is a crowd-pleaser, as are “Be Our Guest" and Beast’s climactic ballad, “If I Can’t Love Her." There’s a well-worn saying in theater that audiences will forgive anything if the ending is right. That seemed true in Schenectady, where the audience rose to their feet at curtain call despite the show’s uneven first half.
My take? This version is better than no version. It’s a polished, family-friendly take with some modern updates and impressive tech. But the original Broadway version wasn’t broken, and it toured successfully for years. So if it wasn’t broken… why “fix" it?
For tour dates and ticket information, visit BeautyAndTheBeastTheMusical.com.