As the latest Disney musical offering hits the West End stage, Rob Halliday reports on how the production has successfully made cartoon characters tread the boards
With the 1994 appearance of the stage musical Beauty and the Beast, a new part of the Disney empire was born: Disney Theatrical. Through clever costume design in particular, that show managed to translate many of the visuals of the film onto the stage to create a spectacular pantomime that could run year round, around the world.
The question it didn't immediately answer, though, was what Disney Theatrical would do next. How many times would the public take stage show filled with people dressed as scaled-up versions of the on-screen characters giant plates/candles/teapots - before accusing Disney of following a formula? Especially when renting the video costs just few pounds, while taking a family to see the stage show is starting to edge into hundreds of pounds.
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