Melissa Kaylene: Living Locally: Beauty and the Beast

beauty and the beast on tour at the Keller Auditorium #broadwayinportland

This year I fell in love with Broadway performances. From Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, I LOVE LUCY live on stage, The Phantom ofthe Opera, Wicked (and more!) there has always been something so magical about them, and each time I go and see a performance I am blown away at the quality of the orchestra, singing, dancing, and the sets. It’s simply the best.

I was very excited when I heard that Beauty and the Beast was coming to Portland, as it was a story that I grew up loving from the 1991 Academy Award®-winning animated feature film, and this version is based upon that film. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is celebrating 21 years since its Broadway premiere in 1994, and is the ninth longest running musical in Broadway history that has become an international sensation seen by more than 35 million people worldwide in 22 countries, and translated into 9 different languages.

Beauty and the Beast is playing at the Keller Auditorium through the 6th, and I think it’s a wonderful show to see if you have never seen a Broadway performance before, or want to introduce your family to theatre, because the story is familiar as well as all of the songs. The cast does an amazing job playing the classical characters that we all fell in love with 24 years ago, so it will bring back many fond memories for adults, as well as create new ones with your family.