How Disney’s Beauty and the Beast led to a Broadway boom

The initial reaction was far from welcoming. “We faced a lot of cynicism. We got a lot of rough reviews,” Menken recalled. Egan, who originated Belle on Broadway, remembered the sharp critiques, particularly from Ben Brantley: “Apparently acting wasn’t a prerequisite for the role.”

Not all critics are cast in a bad light however – it was 1991 reviewer Frank Rich who described the Beauty and the Beast film as the best Broadway musical of the year (a bold statement to say about an animated project), sowing the seeds for the subsequent stage adaptation.

But it took time to convince those at the top: then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner warned that “Broadway is not good business for Disney,” while Egan noted that “they didn’t know who would come or how long it would run,” with fears that children would be running down the aisles during performances.

None of this came to pass – children sat attentively, audiences were in awe and Disney found a new home on the Great White Way.

At the heart of the show’s success was the legacy of Howard Ashman, who was in the last months of his life while the Beauty and the Beast film was being made. The team reflected that “Howard was such a brilliant creator of the interface between songs and story, he had the essence of what was classic, going back to the earliest days of Disney.”

His instinct and cultural savoir-faire was legendary. The film’s team remember how Ashman was inspired by Miles Gloriosus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to craft fan-favourite antagonist Gaston, anchoring the villain in classic theatrical tradition. At the time, most of the producers working on the film didn’t even understand Ashman’s reference. Time and again, the panel returned to one core truth: “Gotta keep going back to Howard – taking the iconic and the contemporary.”

Adapting the animated film to the stage required expanding the story and giving the Beast a voice. “Each song is designed to suit the voice – all musicals are part of a structure,” Menken explained, adding that “songs can be the close-up” to convey internal emotions on stage. This allowed for new numbers and the re-inclusion of “Human Again.” Rehearsing such a gargantuan show was an intense feat, yet original film Belle Paige O’Hara offered a touching welcome to the stage cast, sharing that when she first saw Egan in the show, she turned to her husband and said: “I feel like seeing my little sister on stage.”

The risk paid off handsomely. What felt “new and a bit alarming” became a financial titan, running for 13 years on Broadway, grossing over $420 million, and generating over $1.7 billion worldwide. It opened the doors to shows like The Lion King, which opened on Broadway in 1997. The production transformed the theatrical landscape, with the team noting that “Beauty and the Beast was a shot in the arm” for the industry, proving that “Disney was smart to go there.” Egan even posited that Beauty and the Beast gave a show for families, just as Rent, opening two years later, gave a show to teenagers.

Today, Beauty and the Beast‘s legacy endures, and as Menken teased with a smile: “I think it’s coming back, they say, perhaps.”