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Epicurus.com - Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
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List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $11.97
Your Save: $ 7.01 ( 37% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Records
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0050086086177
Label: Walt Disney Records
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Walt Disney Records
Release Date: 1994-04-26
Studio: Walt Disney Records
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Editorial Reviews:
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Way back in 1991, many of us saw the single-handed salvation and revival of the old-fashioned American-style Broadway musical comedy. True, it was in the form of a feature-length Disney cartoon, but Beauty and the Beast had it all: a wonderful, tuneful score (including a huge hit title-song), off-the-wall choreography, a great opposites-attract love story with an ultimately happy ending, comic subplots, colorful period costumes, a romantic location in small-town France, and an irresistible cast, including Angela Lansbury as the voice of a teapot. Alan Menken's songs, with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, literally introduced the characters ("Belle" and "Gaston") and carried them gracefully through the old fairy tale with its new animated twists. Disney understandably decided to transpose this cinematic miracle to the Broadway stage in 1992. Beauty and the Beast at the fabled Palace Theatre has done as much as anything to revive New York's theatre district; it led to a similar animated film-to-stage transfer of The Lion King, which allowed for the magnificent restoration of the 1902 New Amsterdam Theatre, which was the cornerstone of the cleanup of 42nd Street, which in turn transformed Times Square and "Broadway" into the world's number-one tourist destination. And we're all terribly grateful. But, on stage, Beauty and the Beast was flat, and most of that lack of fizz is, alas, captured on compact disc. The good songs are all here, such as "Be Our Guest," but the performances of them are mostly perfunctory--the exception being the vocal renderings of Susan Egan as Belle, the Beauty. Further, the Disneyfication of the Broadway musical seems to extend to faceless and interchangeable (read: cheap to hire) players, a practice that extends to The Lion King. The only "names" in the original Beauty and the Beast cast were Beth Howland as the teapot and Tom Bosley, a mere shadow of his former Fiorello, as Belle's father. Even worse, unlike The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast was not reinvented for the stage. It's my theory that the kids who made up the live audience (and many of their parents) were filling in the blanks from repeated viewings of the cartoon on video. If you're willing to do the same when only listening, this CD might do. But why, when the movie soundtrack album is available? --Robert Windeler
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Awsome, just like being there
Comment: Just like sitting at the show or being at Disney's Hollywood Studio watching the Beauty & The Beast live show.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprising!
Comment: I avoid Disney because they usually throw enough "sweetness" at a person to give them diabetes! Having heard two of the songs on AOL Radio, I was curious enough to order the CD.
It was a TOTAL surprise! There is enough sugar in it, but there is FAR more passion than I would expect from Disney. It's a love story. (Aren't they ALL?) BUT there are enough other enjoyable moments in it to make it worthwhile. (Including what I perceive to be a suicide threat, "If I can't love her/Let the world be done with me."). Not what you'd expect!)
While the whole musical can be summarized in three of the tracks, (Prologue, to tell the premise, Something There, to show development, and End Duet to resolve the situation) that doesn't say that the other tracks are fluff. They ALL contribute to the telling of the story.
All in all, far better than I expected!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beauty and The Beast On Broadway
Comment: We saw this show on Broadway in 1994 and even my then nine year old son loved the music. There are nine songs here that were not in the animated Disney movie. David Ogden Stiers (Winchester from MASH, Cogsworth in the animated movie) narrates the prologue and his voice is extremely sensuous! The cast works perfectly together and the magic comes through in the music. I am a little surprised that The Transformation (Home reprise) didn't become more popular as a wedding song:
"We are home
We are where we shall be forever
Trust in me
For you know I wont run away
From today
This is all that I need
And all that I need to say is...
Don't you know how you've changed me
Strange how I fin'lly see
I found home
You're my home
Stay with me"
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Comment: It's a nice album with some beautiful songs, ideal for kids and young girls. If you've seen the movie or the show, you'll make it one of your favourite. The sound is flawless, so be sure your're getting a technically perfect recording
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thank you
Comment: Thank you for the Beauty and the Beast (Broadway original cast) CD. Although I ordered it a few days before Christmas, the CD arrived on Christmas Eve. Thank you for making it a special Gift for my daughter.
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