Beauty and the Beast to embark on 2021 UK and Ireland tour

Disney's Beauty and the Beast will embark on a major new UK and Ireland tour from next May, it has been confirmed.

With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, the stage production is based on the award-winning animated film of the same name. The piece follows a petulant prince cursed to resemble a beast unless he can find true love.

The Olivier Award-winning musical had its UK premiere at the Dominion Theatre in 1997, while the piece's Broadway run lasted from 1994 to 2007 (the tenth-longest running production in Broadway history). The piece then had a UK tour from 2001.

This 2021 tour will commence at Curve Leicester, where the piece reportedly plays for five weeks. Tour stops from there are to be revealed.

In a statement the team said: "Disney's Beauty and the Beast will begin a UK and Ireland tour at Leicester Curve in May 2021. The production will bring together the original creative team from the Broadway production. Further information and all tour dates will be announced in the autumn."

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