NETworks Presents DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Closes 4/24

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Fort Worth as part of Broadway at the Bass. Produced by NETworks Presentations and presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at Bass Performance Hall from April 19-24, 2011. Tickets start at $22 and are on sale NOW!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast features the animated film's Academy Award®-winning score with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, with additional songs with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice. The book is written by Linda Woolverton.

The original creators of the Broadway production are together again for this new touring production! The play is directed by Rob Roth and choreographed by Matt West, with Costume Design by Ann Hould-Ward (Tony Award® winner for her work on Disney's Beauty and the Beast), Lighting Design by Natasha Katz, Scenic Design by Stanley A. Meyer, Sound Design by John Petrafesa Jr. and Music Supervision by Michael Kosarin.

Director Rob Roth: "It has been wonderful to bring the entire original design team back together to work on this new production of Beauty and the Beast. As a director, it is rare to have the opportunity to revisit your work 15 years later. Hopefully I've grown and developed as an artist, along with my collaborators, and we can bring 15 years of experience to this new production. We have remained very close as a team over the years of producing the show around the world, and it has been so much fun getting together to
re-explore and reinvent the show for this new NETworks tour. The theme of 'Beauty' is about seeing past the exterior into the heart of someone, and this is reflected in the design for the show, which is about transparency and layers, seeing past one thing and into another."

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast has become an international sensation that has played to over 35 million people worldwide in 21 countries.

Performances run from April 19-24, 2011. Performance times are 7:30pm Tuesday-Thursday; 8pm Friday; 2 and 8pm Saturday; and 2 and 7pm Sunday.

To charge tickets by phone, call (817) 212-4280 in Fort Worth; 1-877-212-4280 (toll free) outside Fort Worth; or order online at www.basshall.com. Tickets are also available at the Bass Performance Hall ticket office at 525 Commerce Street. Ticket office hours: Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. For group sales, call 817-212-4318.

Biographies

Alan Menken's stage musicals include (in chronological order) God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Little Shop of Horrors, The Dream on Royal Street, Kicks: The Showgirl Musical, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, Der Glockner von Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid and Sister Act. His film musicals include Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Newsies, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, A Christmas Carol and Enchanted.

He has won more Academy Awards than any other living individual, including four Oscars for Best Score (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas) and four Oscars for best song ("Under the Sea," "Beauty and the Beast," "A Whole New World" and "Colors of the Wind"). In addition, he has been nominated 18 times, including Best Song nominations for "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," "Kiss the Girl," "Belle," "Be Our Guest," "Friend Like Me," "Go the Distance," "Happy Working Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know," plus a Best Score nomination for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has won ten Grammy Awards (including Song of the Year for "A Whole New World"), seven Golden Globes, London's Evening Standard Award, the Olivier Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

Other notable achievements include Billboard's number one single ("A Whole New World") and No. 1 album (Pocahontas), an honorary doctorate in fine arts from New York University and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Howard Ashman conceived, wrote and directed Little Shop of Horrors, based on Roger Corman's 1960-era horror flick, with music by Alan Menken. Little Shop played for five years off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theater. The show continues to be produced to great acclaim in the U.S. as well as internationally. In 2003, Little Shop was revived on Broadway and in 2007 it was revived on the West End. It is currently one of the most produced shows in American high schools.

In 1986, Ashman wrote and directed the Broadway musical, Smile, music by Marvin Hamlisch. Smile is now considered a lost gem of musical theater and is performed by high school students around the U.S.

Turning his talents toward film, Ashman was pivotal in the renaissance of Disney animated musicals and in the development of Disney's The Little Mermaid (producer and lyrics), Beauty and the Beast (executive producer and lyrics) and Aladdin (lyrics), all with music by Alan Menken. Ashman's contributions to the revival of classic Disney animated musicals were perhaps best expressed by the dedication to the film Beauty and the Beast: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul. He will be forever missed."

Ashman's numerous awards include two Oscars, two Golden Globes, four Grammys, a Drama Desk and a London Evening Standard. He died in 1991 at age 40 from complications arising from AIDS. Ashman Sings Ashman, a CD of his work, with never-before-heard demos, including those from Smile, is available from PS Classics. Ashman's papers are in the Permanent Collection of the Library of Congress.

Tim Rice has been writing lyrics for musical theatee and related enterprises for over 40 years, something he only intended to do for a few months while waiting to become a pop star. The waiting has been extended, mainly because of the world's failure to accept him as a rock god, but also because of the distracting success of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Aladdin, King David and Beauty and the Beast with Alan Menken, Chess with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and The Lion King and Aida with Elton John. He is well known in England, his home country, for his love of cricket and as a tolerable radio and television personality. He has won numerous awards along the way, including Oscars, Tonys and life-saving badges, but often for the wrong thing and often for simply turning up. He is currently working on a musical play about Machiavelli, and is plugging the recently released DVD and album of Chess in Concert starring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal. More gripping info can be found on www.timrice.co.uk but please don't feel obliged to go there.

Rob Roth (Director) was nominated for a Tony Award for his direction of the original Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. The show has won many awards throughout the world, including the Olivier Award for Best Musical in London. Rob directed the world premiere of Elaborate Lives - The Legend of Aida collaborating with Sirs Elton John and Tim Rice. Rob directed the Broadway production of Lestat, based on works of Anne Rice, with music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Rob also directs rock and roll tours, collaborating with Steve Miller, Alice Cooper, Cyndi Lauper and others. A book featuring Rob's extensive collection of rock graphics, "The Art of Classic Rock", will be published this year by Harper Collins. Rob lives in New York City with his black labs Dash Rip Rock and Tag.

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