Beauty and the Beast marked Disney’s arrival on Broadway and, according to many, the revitalization of the Times Square area, which seemed to clean up its act in response to this family-friendly show.
Certainly the last performance will be steeped in nostalgia for the company, a good number of which have been involved in the production for long stretches at a time. None, however, can compete with the track record set by ensemble member Bill Nabel, who has been with the show since day one.
| Did you know that Beauty and the Beast... • Opened at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in 1994 and moved to the Lunt-Fontanne on November 11, 1999? • Has an opening narration by David Ogden Stiers (of “M*A*S*H” fame), who performed the voice of Cogsworth in the original animated feature? • Will have played 46 previews and 5,464 regular performances by the time it closes on July 29th? • Is the longest-currently-running American musical? • Will be replaced at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre later this year by another Disney favorite: The Little Mermaid (previews from 11/3 for a 12/6 opening)? |
In terms of sustenance, the show helped Nabel put two kids through college while enabling him to pen a couple of musicals during his backstage downtime. It also gave him some dynamite fodder for this year's Easter Bonnet Competition, the annual Broadway event in which various casts and theatre companies perform skits and musical send-ups to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
In the 2007 edition, Nabel and his B&B peers mounted a retrospective homing in on show's hefty life span: "When Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg were still talking to each other, it ran! When the top ticket was $65, it ran!... Through 16 marriages, 16 divorces, 27 babies, and three company members who left us too soon, we ran… Through the musician's strike… the blackout… through 9/11… we ran... for 13 years in a row.”
Over the years, the Broadway adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated film (which featured the voices of Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach) has welcomed its own share of stars, among them Belles: Toni Braxton, Deborah Gibson, Andrea McArdle, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and the Great White Way's nanny of nannies, Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown; Lumieres: John Tartaglia, Meshach Taylor, and Jacob Young; and one very noteworthy Gaston: Donny Osmond.But true B&B aficionados are even more impressed by Steve Blanchard, who’s been playing the Beast regularly on Broadway since June of 1999. “Which is kind of an aberration in the theatre world,” he observes, adding, “I pride myself on discovering something new in the role all the time. I feel, even after a year, you can only scratch the surface of a character. It’s all about layering, adding facet after facet. And I’m still discovering stuff.”
Nabel, too, has become skilled at keeping his performances fresh although, unlike Blanchard, he’s not locked into a single role (he understudies several key characters, including Cogsworth, Maurice, and Lumiere). “When I walk into the theater, I never know who am,” he laughs, “and if I ever feel boredom creeping in, I come in early and stand by the ticket windows. There’s something about watching people pay to see me act...it inspires me to do my best.”
As the clock ticks down for B&B, Nabel finds himself looking back over the past 13 years with affection and gratitude -- especially when it comes to his fellow actors. “We bond together when necessary: it’s my second family, and its been a good one.”
And so, Beauty and the Beast, may you live happily ever after... Broadway is a better place for having known you -- you will be missed!
Beauty and the Beast is playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St. For tickets, call 212-307-4747 or click here.
