Latest news with #BeOurGuest
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Disney's Beauty And The Beast musical to illuminate Crown Theatre Perth with Rohan Browne as Lumiere
No one could have foreseen musical theatre performer Rohan Browne's moment on a lamppost as Don Lockwood in the Australian production of Singin' In The Rain as a precursor to his current illuminating role in Beauty And The Beast. Yet Browne's current undertaking as the world's most famous talking candelabra Lumiere is not his first brush with the Disney musical, based on the company's groundbreaking 1991 animated film. With a background in ballet, Browne was a teenager studying at Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School when seeing the original Australian Beauty And The Beast production multiple times in 1995 — starring Rachel Beck, Michael Cormick, Hugh Jackman and Bert Newton — made him more determined than ever to pursue a career in musical theatre. 'If you've seen the cartoon, the original iteration of Lumiere was the fun, funny light in the castle who also gets to do a big number,' 45-year-old Browne says from his home in Melbourne. 'Aside from the title number, Be Our Guest is the big kind of showstopper, so there's a lot of pressure to really reach those heights, and I've put my own spin on it, as any actor does. They want to come at it with fresh eyes.' Browne's performance of Be Our Guest includes an extended dance break from the original stage production, taking it to a pulse-racing 11-minute extravaganza. 'It's Disney. They don't do things by halves, do they?' he laughs. 'It's pretty amazing to lead that number. It's a challenge. I don't ever rest on my laurels. I never get used to it. There's always something to work on or improve or find other little moments in it, even though we've been doing it for coming up to two years. 'That number aside, there's also the sentimental moments that we have of really trying to get the Beast to understand that this is our last chance before the curse really takes hold of us, this is his last opportunity… I really kind of see Lumiere as kind of the Beast or the Prince's fun uncle — the one who he kind of looks to because Cogsworth is too fuddy-duddy and strict.' Beauty And The Beast was the first Disney film adapted as a Broadway musical in 1994, this tale as old as time featuring the animation's original music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, with additional lyrics by Tim Rice. 'When director and choreographer Matt West talks about him going to Disney and being like 'This is the perfect thing to start Disney Theatrical', it really is,' Browne says. 'It's got this beautiful heroine; a strong, powerful woman who stands in her power and stands in her truth, which was the antithesis of anything else that they'd really kind of done.' While the production still has all that old-school live musical magic, Browne believes the updated technology used throughout this reimagined Australian version, which premiered at Sydney's Capitol Theatre in June 2023, is rather spectacular. 'It's nostalgic for the older generation who have seen it before, but for new theatre-goers, or people who haven't seen the show before, they're going to be wowed,' Browne says. 'You hear a lot of gasping when certain elements happen, like when the Prince transforms into the Beast in the prologue and when he transforms from the Beast back to the Prince. How Chip comes on stage, how all of the trickery happens in Gaston and how Be Our Guest just keeps going and going. All of these incredible theatrical elements are thrown out there.' Without wanting to wax lyrical, Browne says he is loving his time on the Beauty And The Beast stage, not only as part of the musical's legacy but also for what it has meant to his family, particularly his four-year-old Duke. 'He still hasn't managed to be able to sit through the whole show because he gets scared of the Beast,' Browne says of his son with wife and fellow musical theatre performer Christie Whelan Browne. 'But he'll watch the Be Our Guest performance we did for Sunrise 15 times a day. I think he knows it better than I do.' Beauty And The Beast is at Crown Theatre Perth from July 24. Tickets at
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Disney musical reimagining ready to wow Perth
No one could have foreseen musical theatre performer Rohan Browne's moment on a lamppost as Don Lockwood in the Australian production of Singin' In The Rain as a precursor to his current illuminating role in Beauty And The Beast. Yet Browne's current undertaking as the world's most famous talking candelabra Lumiere is not his first brush with the Disney musical, based on the company's groundbreaking 1991 animated film. With a background in ballet, Browne was a teenager studying at Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School when seeing the original Australian Beauty And The Beast production multiple times in 1995 — starring Rachel Beck, Michael Cormick, Hugh Jackman and Bert Newton — made him more determined than ever to pursue a career in musical theatre. Your local paper, whenever you want it. 'If you've seen the cartoon, the original iteration of Lumiere was the fun, funny light in the castle who also gets to do a big number,' 45-year-old Browne says from his home in Melbourne. 'Aside from the title number, Be Our Guest is the big kind of showstopper, so there's a lot of pressure to really reach those heights, and I've put my own spin on it, as any actor does. They want to come at it with fresh eyes.' Gareth Jacobs, Hayley Martin, Shubshri Kandiah, Rohan Browne and the company of Disney's Beauty And The Beast the Musical perform Be Our Guest. Credit: Daniel Boud Browne's performance of Be Our Guest includes an extended dance break from the original stage production, taking it to a pulse-racing 11-minute extravaganza. 'It's Disney. They don't do things by halves, do they?' he laughs. 'It's pretty amazing to lead that number. It's a challenge. I don't ever rest on my laurels. I never get used to it. There's always something to work on or improve or find other little moments in it, even though we've been doing it for coming up to two years. 'That number aside, there's also the sentimental moments that we have of really trying to get the Beast to understand that this is our last chance before the curse really takes hold of us, this is his last opportunity… I really kind of see Lumiere as kind of the Beast or the Prince's fun uncle — the one who he kind of looks to because Cogsworth is too fuddy-duddy and strict.' Beauty And The Beast's Rohan Browne. Credit: Supplied Beauty And The Beast was the first Disney film adapted as a Broadway musical in 1994, this tale as old as time featuring the animation's original music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, with additional lyrics by Tim Rice. 'When director and choreographer Matt West talks about him going to Disney and being like 'This is the perfect thing to start Disney Theatrical', it really is,' Browne says. 'It's got this beautiful heroine; a strong, powerful woman who stands in her power and stands in her truth, which was the antithesis of anything else that they'd really kind of done.' While the production still has all that old-school live musical magic, Browne believes the updated technology used throughout this reimagined Australian version, which premiered at Sydney's Capitol Theatre in June 2023, is rather spectacular. Rohan Browne as Lumiere in Disney's Beauty And The Beast. Credit: Ben King 'It's nostalgic for the older generation who have seen it before, but for new theatre-goers, or people who haven't seen the show before, they're going to be wowed,' Browne says. 'You hear a lot of gasping when certain elements happen, like when the Prince transforms into the Beast in the prologue and when he transforms from the Beast back to the Prince. How Chip comes on stage, how all of the trickery happens in Gaston and how Be Our Guest just keeps going and going. All of these incredible theatrical elements are thrown out there.' Without wanting to wax lyrical, Browne says he is loving his time on the Beauty And The Beast stage, not only as part of the musical's legacy but also for what it has meant to his family, particularly his four-year-old Duke. 'He still hasn't managed to be able to sit through the whole show because he gets scared of the Beast,' Browne says of his son with wife and fellow musical theatre performer Christie Whelan Browne. 'But he'll watch the Be Our Guest performance we did for Sunrise 15 times a day. I think he knows it better than I do.' Beauty And The Beast is at Crown Theatre Perth from July 24. Tickets at
The Independent
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
New national tour of 'Beauty and the Beast' features Fergie L. Philippe and Kyra Belle Johnson
Fergie L. Philippe first saw the stage musical 'Beauty and the Beast' pretty late, as a freshman in college. Kyra Belle Johnson got to know it much earlier — in sixth grade she played a sugar cube in a middle school production. Years later, they've been picked to lead the first North American tour of the musical presented by Disney in over 25 years, which gets underway this summer. Philippe, playing the Beast, and Johnson, portraying the young woman who transforms the morose creature with the power of her love, are looking forward to seeing audiences of kids about to have their first live theater experience and parents who remember their own 'Beauty and the Beast' memories. 'Disney stories are all in our DNA, whether we know it or not. They are part of the American experience. And I think that one thing that's going to be really exciting is the multigenerational experience of this,' says Philippe. The tour will launch in Schenectady, New York, in June with an official opening in Chicago in July. Philippe and Johnson have signed up for 13 months. Based on the 1991 animated film, 'Beauty and the Beast' tells the story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell, who has to remain a Beast unless he can learn to love and be loved. The show features catchy songs written by composer Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, including 'Be Our Guest' and 'Gaston.' The witty dialogue is by Linda Woolverton. 'Beauty and the Beast' was the first animated movie to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture. 'Something that really stands out to me in this story that I think is timeless is the idea of walking into any room with preconceived notions based on the way someone looks,' Johnson says. 'And allowing yourself to be open, and learn new things, and forgive and give second chances and finding love in spaces that you maybe wouldn't have expected to.' Johnson, born and raised in Los Angeles, was bitten early by the theater bug. 'My mom says that I was singing in the crib,' she says. She was 7 when she saw a production of 'Oliver!' and it changed her life. 'There were a bunch of kids on stage and I was like, 'I can do that?' And my mom was like, 'Yeah, if you want to.' And I was like, 'I want to,'' she says. "It hit me hard and it never let go." She soon took a flurry of classes, did shows in school and theater camp in summer. At just 18, she led the 2015 Broadway national tour of 'Mamma Mia!' as Sophie and then earned a bachelor's degree in musical theater from Texas State University. 'Beauty and the Beast' was the third musical she ever did after 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' She recalls being 11 and one of her roles required high kicks while in a box made to resemble a sugar cube during 'Be Our Guest.' 'I grew up watching this movie. Belle was always one of my favorites. She had the best songs. The men wanted her. The girls were jealous of her. Belle had it all," she says. "I love this show. I always have.' Philippe, a baritone born in New York and raised in Miami, came to musical theater from a love of puppetry, particularly Jim Henson and 'Sesame Street.' 'I was amazed by the colors and the textures of the puppets. And when I was a kid, I was gutting stuffed animals and trying to turn them into puppets,' he says laughing. His fascination for how puppets were controlled led to an interest in the stage and he graduated with a BFA from Elon University. He played Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in both the Broadway and touring productions of "Hamilton." Philippe and Johnson first met at the final callbacks for the 'Beauty and the Beast.' They were paired up among several other candidates for the two lead roles. She knew he would get it. 'We were sitting in the room, and you just brought the Beast to life," she tells him. "You had such a nuance and a playfulness, and I just knew. I was like, 'This man is booking this role. He's incredible.'' Philippe was equally impressed, especially when they were asked to do a scene with her holding a book. Johnson didn't mime it with her hands or use any old book. She pulled out a beautifully bound, illustrated Charles Dickens volume from 1957, the kind of book she believed Belle would own and cherish. 'She was like, 'Sorry, I just I need this for myself to be able to get into it,'" Philippe says. 'I love when actors know that thing that's going to help them dive in. I have such immense respect for that."
Associated Press
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
New national tour of ‘Beauty and the Beast' features Fergie L. Philippe and Kyra Belle Johnson
NEW YORK (AP) — Fergie L. Philippe first saw the stage musical 'Beauty and the Beast' pretty late, as a freshman in college. Kyra Belle Johnson got to know it much earlier — in sixth grade she played a sugar cube in a middle school production. Years later, they've been picked to lead the first North American tour of the musical presented by Disney in over 25 years, which gets underway this summer. Philippe, playing the Beast, and Johnson, portraying the young woman who transforms the morose creature with the power of her love, are looking forward to seeing audiences of kids about to have their first live theater experience and parents who remember their own 'Beauty and the Beast' memories. 'Disney stories are all in our DNA, whether we know it or not. They are part of the American experience. And I think that one thing that's going to be really exciting is the multigenerational experience of this,' says Philippe. The tour will launch in Schenectady, New York, in June with an official opening in Chicago in July. Philippe and Johnson have signed up for 13 months. Based on the 1991 animated film, 'Beauty and the Beast' tells the story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell, who has to remain a Beast unless he can learn to love and be loved. The show features catchy songs written by composer Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, including 'Be Our Guest' and 'Gaston.' The witty dialogue is by Linda Woolverton. 'Beauty and the Beast' was the first animated movie to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture. 'Something that really stands out to me in this story that I think is timeless is the idea of walking into any room with preconceived notions based on the way someone looks,' Johnson says. 'And allowing yourself to be open, and learn new things, and forgive and give second chances and finding love in spaces that you maybe wouldn't have expected to.' Johnson, born and raised in Los Angeles, was bitten early by the theater bug. 'My mom says that I was singing in the crib,' she says. She was 7 when she saw a production of 'Oliver!' and it changed her life. 'There were a bunch of kids on stage and I was like, 'I can do that?' And my mom was like, 'Yeah, if you want to.' And I was like, 'I want to,'' she says. 'It hit me hard and it never let go.' She soon took a flurry of classes, did shows in school and theater camp in summer. At just 18, she led the 2015 Broadway national tour of 'Mamma Mia!' as Sophie and then earned a bachelor's degree in musical theater from Texas State University. 'Beauty and the Beast' was the third musical she ever did after 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' She recalls being 11 and one of her roles required high kicks while in a box made to resemble a sugar cube during 'Be Our Guest.' 'I grew up watching this movie. Belle was always one of my favorites. She had the best songs. The men wanted her. The girls were jealous of her. Belle had it all,' she says. 'I love this show. I always have.' Philippe, a baritone born in New York and raised in Miami, came to musical theater from a love of puppetry, particularly Jim Henson and 'Sesame Street.' 'I was amazed by the colors and the textures of the puppets. And when I was a kid, I was gutting stuffed animals and trying to turn them into puppets,' he says laughing. His fascination for how puppets were controlled led to an interest in the stage and he graduated with a BFA from Elon University. He played Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in both the Broadway and touring productions of 'Hamilton.' Philippe and Johnson first met at the final callbacks for the 'Beauty and the Beast.' They were paired up among several other candidates for the two lead roles. She knew he would get it. 'We were sitting in the room, and you just brought the Beast to life,' she tells him. 'You had such a nuance and a playfulness, and I just knew. I was like, 'This man is booking this role. He's incredible.'' Philippe was equally impressed, especially when they were asked to do a scene with her holding a book. Johnson didn't mime it with her hands or use any old book. She pulled out a beautifully bound, illustrated Charles Dickens volume from 1957, the kind of book she believed Belle would own and cherish. 'She was like, 'Sorry, I just I need this for myself to be able to get into it,'' Philippe says. 'I love when actors know that thing that's going to help them dive in. I have such immense respect for that.'
