Berry will again play Belle in the long-running Disney musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The actress joins the company the same day Beauty welcomes its new Gaston, Donny Osmond.
In a statement actress Berry said, "I am so happy to be returning to Beauty and the Beast as Belle. To be able to work with such an incredible company of actors and to play opposite Donny Osmond is a thrill for me."
Berry and Osmond will join a company that features Steve Blanchard as the Beast, Stuart Marland as Lumiere, Jeanne Lehmann as Mrs. Potts, Christopher Duva as Cogsworth, Jamie Ross as Maurice, Meredith Inglesby as Babette, Mary Stout as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. Trevor Braun and Marlon Sherman alternate in the role of Chip.
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, 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.
