Beauty and the Beast: stage vs screen

Disney's Beauty and the Beast began as the 1991 animated film directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, with Paige O'Hara as Belle and Robby Benson as the Beast. The Broadway musical opened on April 18, 1994, at the Palace Theatre, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton, who also wrote the film. Bill Condon directed a 2017 live-action remake. Here is how they compare.

Stage

Broadway musical (1994)

Screen

Beauty and the Beast (1991), directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and the live-action Beauty and the Beast (2017), directed by Bill Condon

1. The servants turn into objects slowly

In the 1991 film, the castle staff are already household objects when the story begins. On stage they change gradually over the course of the show, so Lumière, Cogsworth, and the others are slowly turning into furniture as the last rose petal nears. That raises the stakes, because becoming an object for good would mean losing who they are.

2. The Beast finally gets a solo

The Beast has no solo in the animated film. For Broadway, Menken and Tim Rice wrote "If I Can't Love Her," the Act One closer in which he faces the chance that Belle will never love him. Terrence Mann originated the role. The musical also makes him a bit more threatening at first, which gives his change of heart further to travel.

3. Gaston gets "Me" and a darker plot

Gaston's new number "Me" is a self-admiring showpiece written for the stage. He also joins LeFou and Monsieur D'Arque, who runs the local asylum, in "Maison des Lunes," where they plot to have Belle's father Maurice locked away to force her hand. The film includes the same scheme in a scene, and the musical turns it into a full song. Burke Moses originated Gaston.

4. Belle gets "Home" and Maurice gets a ballad

Belle's new solo "Home" captures her feelings as a prisoner in the castle, and Maurice sings a new ballad, "No Matter What." Belle also joins in "Be Our Guest" on stage, dancing with the enchanted objects, rather than only watching. Susan Egan originated Belle and earned a Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut.

5. "Human Again" is restored

"Human Again" was written for the film's servants but cut before animation began, because its timeline caused story problems. A revised version was added to the film in a new sequence for the 2002 IMAX and Special Edition release. On Broadway it is an Act Two number for Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Babette, and the rest of the household staff.

6. Babette and Madame de la Grande Bouche get names

The feather duster the film leaves nameless becomes Babette on stage, where she romances Lumière, and the wardrobe becomes Madame de la Grande Bouche. Both are given more to do than in the film. In the 2017 remake, the feather duster was renamed Plumette and played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and the wardrobe became Madame de Garderobe.

7. The ending is much the same

In both versions, the Beast is dying when Belle tells him she loves him just before the last petal falls. The curse breaks, the Beast becomes human, and the servants return to their human forms. The stage transformation became one of the production's most talked-about effects, and setting it up reportedly took about 11 weeks.

8. The 2017 remake took its own path

Bill Condon's film, with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Luke Evans, does not use the Broadway songs, except for an instrumental "Home" when Belle enters her room. It adds its own, including "Evermore" for the Beast, and new backstories, such as Belle's mother dying of the plague. Gaston shoots the Beast and falls from a collapsing bridge.

Beauty and the Beast movie vs musical: FAQs