Galen Fott writes…
Great to see the Beauty and the Beast stage show on your site! I originated the role of Gaston in this production, so I know a bit about it and its history. I performed in the show from November of 1991 to May of 1992, and then as a substitute every now and then around 1996-97. All during my time at Disney (through 2001), the actors playing Belle and Gaston both sang and spoke live, and as far as I know, that's still true today.
The video you link to, however, is a bit strange. It does show the revised (and greatly improved) version of the show, which happened sometime in the late 90s. The original version opened with "Be Our Guest", had an odd sequence with dancing bats (!), and generally didn't make a huge effort to tell a coherent story. The revisal added the David Ogden Stiers opening narration, put the scenes in the correct sequence, and added some brief dialog scenes as well. Much better.
What's odd about the video you posted is that while it was shot in 2010, it features my voice as Gaston, singing and speaking, everywhere except the brief scene with Belle and the book. And I think it's often (but not always) original Belle Andrea Canny you hear as well. Disney had Andrea and me record an "emergency track" of our voices in case the current Belle or Gaston were unable to perform vocally. I believe this track was once commercially available on a CD somewhere. So, I think the person who posted this video on YouTube has edited in this soundtrack wherever possible, and that explains the wildly out of sync audio in places.
So, while it doesn't exactly depict an actual performance of the show, the picture quality is quite good, and it gives a nice look at the show. If you want to see a bit of the original (with me and another original Belle, Trudie Petersen), here's a link from the 1991 televised Disney Christmas Parade:
To complete the history of the show, a stage version opened in Disneyland sometime in 1992, which was directed by Robert Jess Roth, who eventually directed the Broadway version. The Disneyland version had the scenes more in sequence, and it and the Broadway production greatly influenced the late 90s revisal of the Disney World version.
Quite possibly more information than you wanted to know, but thought you might be interested!
Useless information is always welcome on this site, Galen, and yours is actually useful. I think you're right that the YouTube poster laid in different audio in some places.I never saw the stage show in person on my few visits to Disneyland or my fewer to Disney World, but I was impressed with the live Broadway-lite entertainment in both venues. Years ago at Disney World, I saw a lady playing the Little Mermaid in a small stage show they had there and I thought, "Wow, that woman is way too good on stage to be doing (whatever it was) ten shows a day for twenty dollars and no billing." It wouldn't surprise me if she's since gone on to Broadway stardom or at least something better than Disney pay, as you certainly have. I also suppose there are some who are happy just to do that kind of work for a few years, then move on from performing to something else.
I really enjoyed the full Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. I think I saw it twice in New York and once out here at the Shubert Theater and I thought it was much better than The Lion King and much, much better than Mary Poppins. Until fairly recently, I was unaware it had evolved out the 25-minute theme park presentation. I wonder how many parents introduced their offspring to live theater at Disney World, then took the kiddos to see the super-sized version…and now those kids are interested in theater of all kinds. Betcha there are some.