The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University invites all members of the campus community to attend a lecture titled “‘Be Our Guest’ on Broadway: Beauty and the Beast and Disney’s New York Expansion” Tuesday, April 12, at 4:30 p.m., in Clark Hall, Room 206.
The “Disney Renaissance” (1989-1999) was not only a period of industrial growth and commercial success for Walt Disney Animation Studios, but also a notable return to the artistic ideology of their “Golden Age.” The films that comprise this Renaissance represent not only a diverse body of musical works that dominated the cultural landscape of their time, but would soon influence the trajectory of the stage musical.
Beauty and the Beast (1994) was Disney’s first foray onto Broadway, and the company’s subsequent expansion throughout Times Square through the renovation of and residence in the New Amsterdam Theatre established an adaptive pattern that continues nearly three decades later.
In this presentation, Kelli Minelli, a PhD candidate in the Department of Music, examines the development of Beauty and the Beast from animated film to Disney’s Broadway debut, focusing on the theatrical choices and musical interventions necessary to bring the show to life.
This lecture will also be live-streamed at case.edu/livestream/s1.
Register if attending in-person.