Beauty and the Beast Welcomes Donny Osmond and Sarah Uriarte Berry Sept. 19
By Andrew Gans
19 Sep 2006
Former pop idol Donny Osmond and recent The Light in the Piazza star Sarah Uriarte Berry join the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast Sept. 19.
Osmond is scheduled to play a nine-week engagement as Gaston in the long-running Disney musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Berry will assume the part of Belle, a role she previously played in the family-friendly production.
Beauty marks the first time Osmond has appeared on Broadway since his 1982 Main Stem debut in Little Johnny Jones. "I opened and closed [Little Johnny Jones] in one night," Osmond said in a recent statement, "and I remember thinking, 'One of these days, I'm going to do it right.' Now almost 25 years later I have the chance — I couldn't do it any more right than joining such an iconic show as Beauty. I can't wait to get started!"
Disney Theatricals producer Thomas Schumacher added, "I have known Donny for almost a decade and had a great time working with him. He's a brilliant performer
and a great guy. We are all thrilled he's joining our production."
In addition to his pop success with the Osmond Family — including the hit TV series "The Donny & Marie Show" — Donny Osmond also starred in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He was the singing voice of Captain Shang in Disney's "Mulan," and he also recently hosted the game show "Pyramid."
Sarah Uriarte Berry has appeared on Broadway in The Light in the Piazza, Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast and Taboo. She also took part in the City Center Encores! productions of The Boys From Syracuse and Tenderloin. She has toured in productions of Carousel and Sunset Boulevard and was seen in the Kennedy Center mounting of A Little Night Music.
Beauty and the Beast, which plays the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, currently stars Steve Blanchard as the Beast, Jacob Young as Lumiere, Jeanne Lehman as Mrs. Potts, Christopher Duva as Cogsworth, Jamie Ross as Maurice, Meredith Inglesby as Babette, Gina Ferrall as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. Trevor Braun and Alexander Scheitinger alternate in the role of the young Chip.
The musical, according to press notes, is "the classic love story of Belle, a young woman in a small, provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a prince trapped in a spell placed on him by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and to be loved, the spell will be broken and he will be transformed back to his former self. But time is running out, and if the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he will be doomed for all eternity."
Featuring a score by Alan Menken, Tim Rice and the late Howard Ashman, Beauty and the Beast boasts a book by the author of the original screenplay, Linda Woolverton; the musical was directed by Robert Jess Roth.
Tickets may be purchased at the theatre's box office (205 W. 46th Street) or by calling (212) 307-4747. For more information, visit Walt Disney Theatricals on-line at www.disneyonbroadway.com.
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