PCPA Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, Portland, OR

Thursday through Saturday: 7:30 PM
Saturdays and Sundays: 2:00 PM
Special Wednesday, December 30 performance: 7:30
No performance on Christmas Eve, Christmas & New Years Eve

A tale as old as time, this enchanting musical tells the story of the strong-willed and loveable Disney favorite Belle. Longing to escape her everyday routine, she finds her life takes a sudden turn leaving her at the gate of a magical palace. Join the Beast, Gaston, Le Fou, Lumiere, and friends as they embark on a grand journey filled with adventure, cheer, and learning to love. With the classic songs, “Be Our Guest,” “Something There,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” this will be a musical experience the whole family can share and enjoy.

The animated Disney film version of this show is available; however, there are some differences between this version and the live stage version.

Approximately two-hours, with a one 15-minute intermission. Exact length to be determined.

This Disney classic opens with a prologue that tells of the spell that transformed a heartless man into a Beast and his castle into an enchanted prison as punishment. As the spell is cast, the story dissolves into the small town, where Belle lives in, longing each day for some adventure, something new and exciting. Not only hasthe town hunk Gaston, who is very conceited and conniving, proposed to Belle, but everyone thinks she and her father are crazy.

Not long after the story begins, an unfortunate turn of events finds Belle in search of her father, Maurice, whom she finds has been captured and locked in a dungeon within The Beast’s mysterious and enchanted castle. Belle searches out Maurice and quickly offers herself to The Beast in exchange for her father’s freedom, which The Beast accepts.

While Maurice returns to the village in search of help from the townspeople to save his daughter, Belle becomes friends with all the enchanted creatures in the castle - Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, Mr. Cogsworth, and more – all but The Beast. Eventually, she flees the castle only to be stopped by a pack of wolves. When The Beast comes to her rescue, she begins to see the softness in him and they begin to share a new kind of feeling for each other.

Meanwhile, Maurice has tried everything to gather a group of townspeople to come with him to save Belle, but no one will help so he sets off into the forest alone. As The Beast and Belle grow closer, she confides to him that she misses her father and The Beast allows her to ask his magic mirror to show Maurice. As she does, she discovers that he is alone, cold and sick in the forest and that she must save him. The Beast grants her leave and the friends in the castle fear the spell will never be broken for The Beast must learn to love and have his love returned for this to take place.

When Belle and Maurice return home, they discover that Gaston has plotted to force Belle into marrying him by threatening to have Maurice thrown in an insane asylum for speaking about a hideous, monstrous beast. At this point, Belle shows Gaston and the townspeople The Beast through the magic mirror The Beast gave her and they immediately decide to storm the castle to kill this beast.

Once they arrive at the castle, the creatures are ready for the fight against the townspeople. Gaston inevitably finds The Beast in his room and they begin to fight over Belle’s love. As the fight moves onto the rooftop, Gaston stabs The Beast, loses his balances, and falls to his death. Belle hurries to The Beast’s side in disbelief, in anguish over his pain. As The Beast begins to loose consciousness, his body begins to change from beast to prince as the spell has been broken. The spell begins to loosen its grasp on all of the castle creatures and the story ends happily ever after.

A large duck drops onstage after it has been hunted and shot by Gaston. Throughout the show, the Beast character is very realistic looking, with prosthetic horns, hands and facial features. He may be frightening to some young children. In Act 2, Gaston stabs the Beast on the rooftop towards the end of the story, and ultimately falls from the rooftop of the castle and dies.

The Silly Girls partake in innocent swooning over Gaston within the musical. Lumiere and Babette engage in mild flirting. The Prince and Belle kiss at the end of the story.