Photo Flash: First Look at Sgouros & Bell's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Players Theatre

An original musical adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, inspired by the 1740 French Novella, began previews on Valentine 's Day and opens this weekend, February 27, running through April 26 at the Players Theatre, located at 115 MacDougal Street (between West 3rd and Bleeker) in the West Village. The production features a live chamber ensemble of three percussionist and cello, which hightlingts the rich somber tones of the score (by Michael Sgouros) as well as the magical dream-like tambers. Book and lyrics are by Brenda Bell who also directs with choreography by Bekah Shade. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

Largely based on the original book by Marie Beaumont, which was written in 1756, this version finds the title character, Beauty (Kaitlyn Baldwin), to be a surprising heroine. Unlike most fairytale damsels, she is not waiting to be rescued by a prince charming. In fact, if there is rescuing to be done, Beauty will be doing it. But she is far from flawless, indeed she makes a number of mistakes, but as a true heroine, she always learns from her blunders.

This production also includes little-known dream sequences from an earlier French novella by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. "After much research I was fortunate enough to find an English translation of the novella written in 1740. I had heard that Beaumont was inspired by this story. I found the details of Beauty's dreams fascinating; they lend such a rich texture to the story." The decision was made to create a Beast and a Prince for the production. The Prince (Darius Delk) calls to Beauty in her sleep allowing the audience to enter into a surreal dream-world that reveals Beauty's hidden desires as well as her apprehensions.

The show holds an allure for adults who still enjoy the romance and whimsy of a dark gothic romance. "There is a part of us that still wants to believe in fairytales," stated Artistic Director Brenda Bell. "This made us decide to offer special Saturday evening performances in March to fullfill this need."

For more information, visit www.beboldNY.com.