"All My Children" Star Jacob Young to Join Broadway's Beauty

By Andrew Gans
17 Mar 2006

Jacob Young
Jacob Young

Emmy Award winner Jacob Young, who plays JR Chandler on the ABC daytime serial "All My Children," will make his Broadway debut next month in Beauty and the Beast.

On May 9 Young will begin a ten-week limited engagement as Lumiere in the long-running Disney hit at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Because of his shooting schedule for "All My Children," Young will not appear in the Wednesday matinee performances of Beauty.

In a statement Young said, "I have always wanted to combine my love of music and acting by performing on Broadway. It’s such a pleasure for me to be welcomed into the Disney family with this role in Beauty and the Beast."

Jacob Young received a Daytime Emmy Award for his work on "General Hospital" and a Daytime Emmy nomination for his performance on "All My Children." He was seen in the TV movie "Beach Boys: An All American Family" as well as in the feature film "The Girl Next Door." He guest starred on the sitcom "Hope & Faith," and his debut solo album, "Jacob Young," was released in 2001 on Artemis Records.

Beauty and the Beast, the sixth longest-running show in Broadway history, originally opened at the Palace Theatre April 18, 1994. The production played 2,250 performances at the Palace before reopening at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it now resides.

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.