The production is currently playing on London’s West End before heading to Bristol and Ireland later this year.
Arts Minister Ben Franklin,Disney Australia managing director Kylie Watson-Wheeler,and director Matt West attend Sydney’s Capitol Theatre on Thursday for the announcement of Beauty& the Beast.Getty Images
On Thursday,NSW Arts and Tourism Minister Ben Franklin announced the musical and said the show is an “international sensation” that had sold 35 million tickets globally.
“Sydney is a city of the stage and this reimagining of one of the world’s most beloved musicals will dazzle devotees of the original production,while also captivating a new generation of fans,” Franklin said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet expects the show to draw 400,000 theatregoers to Sydney. “Bringing blockbuster musicals like Beauty and the Beast to Sydney first is key to turbocharging the NSW visitor economy,” he said.
Government and theatre industry sources confirmed to theHeraldandThe Age on Wednesday thatBeauty and the Beastwould run in Sydney and said first auditions had already been held for an Australian cast.
The original creative team from the production’s 1994 Broadway debut,which ran for 13 years,is back on deck for the Australian show. The team includes choreographer and director Matt West and costume designer Ann Hould-Ward,who won a Tony Award for her work on the show.
“We are thrilled to return to Australia withBeauty and the Beast as re-imagined by members of the brilliant original creative team,” said president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions Thomas Schumacher.
“This beloved show – and Belle herself – are somehow as contemporary today as when the film premiered in 1991;even more meaningful to those who first discovered them decades ago and to an entirely new generation.”
The 2017 live actionBeauty and the Beastmovie starring Emma Watson as Belle revamped interest in the Disney classic. At the time,the film became the highest grossing live action musical film in history (pipped byThe Lion Kingin 2019).
Choreographer of the original 1994 Broadway production Matt West is directing the Australian show.Getty Images
Major musical theatre openings are hotly contested between NSW and Victoria;theHerald andThe Age have previously reported former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian had personally intervened to secure the premiere of Broadway smash hitHamilton for her state’s capital.
“They[Victoria] bid very hard and we pipped them to the post and I apologise if[Victorian Premier Daniel] Andrews is upset with me as a result,” Berejiklian said in 2019.
Landmark cultural events such as this premiere are often secured after significant financial contributions from state governments and their respective tourism bodies,in this case Destination NSW.
The original Australian production ofBeauty and the Beast opened in Melbourne in 1995,starring Hugh Jackman as Gaston,before moving to Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney in 1996 a few years before the theatre closed. It is now a carpark.
The current West End production is a reimagining of the classic tale with a younger and more diverse cast,and is due to finish its run in September.
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