Disney's utterly spectacular show Beauty And The Beast is still wowing audiences at The Bristol Hippodrome and Nowt2Do.Com have had the chance to go backstage and have a look into the magic.

The visual spectacular which is Beauty And The Beast involves a massive cast and crew of 130 per performance. The lavish sets, lighting effects and pyrotechnics all combine with classic Disney tunes and story to create the show and we had the chance to look at how it is all run during a performance.

The Hippodrome stage has had a new stage built upon it, which is taken by Disney to each new venue in one of its 15, 40 foot trucks which transport the whole set and everything involved with the production to each venue. That stage contains everything which is needed to make the show come alive. Built into it there are a number of pulley systems which make all the sets magically appear on and off stage, so you never see a stage hand. The sets which come on and off and all the scenery which is stored high above the stage is all controlled from behind the stage by a special computer and team of crew. The sets are all co-ordinate into the computer so they appear with perfect timing. In the corner sits a sound computer which controls all the radio mics, which the cast use to be heard. Belle and Beast each have two mics just in case one fails and from the computer a sound man can control their volumes and such.

Also behind the stage you will find all the other parts of scenery stored high above the wings. Because those wings are so small the props and scenery are hung from above ready to drop down when needed. There is an area called "Wardrobe City" where all the hundreds of imaginative costumes for the show are stored and changed into during the production, it can get very hectic at time when 20 cast members are trying to do a quick change.

On Stage Right you will find the Stage Manager who is in charge of cuing all the lights, set and cast so everything happens at a precise time. They have a bank of monitors showing everything from behind the stage, to the stage in color to the stage via an infa-red camera for when blackouts occur. It is their job to give each department such as lighting a cue which brings the next change.

Lighting plays an important part in the production and you can see from just looking above the stage how much there really is. Hundreds of lights and hung above the stage including moving lights which change everything themselves via their own computer! The lights and a massive projector are also all hung from the Grand Circle, they are so heavy that Disney have had to strengthen the circle to hold the equipment.

Right at the back of the stalls is the massive sound board where the team can play all the effects, and fiddle with the microphones and music to allow the best sound for the audience.

Here are some amazing facts about this lavish production.

• Over 140 wigs are worn on stage each night; only three performers use their own hair on stage.

• Four characters’ wigs are made of yak hair: Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Madame de la Grande Bouche, and the Sugar Bowl from “Be Our Guest.”

• 248 pieces of hair are used on stage each night – including wigs, moustaches, and bangs.

• The average number of wig changes for each ensemble member is eight per show.

• The 30-inch length human hair needed to build Belle’s wig was specially imported from India.

• It took 20 pounds of human hair and 400 man hours to create the first Beast.

• The Beast’s tail is made up of seven yards of human hair.

• There are 50 pounds of hairpins backstage ready to go at all times.

• There are a total of 1,358 lighting instruments, using 1,200,00 watts of light – enough to light up a football stadium.

• There are 59 vari lights, with over 350 cues. Each Vari*Lite has a Macintosh computer within and has 256 colour choices and 12 pattern choices.

• There are over 1,120 lamps on the “Be Our Guest” portals alone: 600 feet of neon are also used on these same portals.

• Over 339 strobe lights are used in the show.

• There are three miles of lighting cables running through the theatre.

• There are 120 gobos (metal pieces that make lighting effects and patterns on the set) used in the design.

• There are over 350 lighting cues called by the stage manager per performance.

• The prosthetic makeup was designed by John Dods.

• Over 80 prosthetic makeup pieces are used in the show.

• The face prosthetic pieces are thrown away each evening after the hair is removed from them. The hair is reused after it is cleaned.

• The prosthetics are made of Latex with soft poly foam

• There are 37 special effects in the show.

• 11 magic tricks are used.

• The Enchantress’ fireball is the first known throwable hand-held device of its kind. She can hold the ball of fire in her hand until it burns out without any physical damage. It was a year and a half in development.

• Lumiere’s hands are made of flameproof plastic surrounding a flame device that uses one ounce of liquid butane per hand per show. This translates to four pounds of butane per month.

• In one year, over 400 pounds of solid explosives are also used.

• The scenery, which was designed by Stanley Meyer, took four months to build and eight weeks to load into the show’s original New York and London homes. On the national tour, this load-in will be completed within four days.

• There are 12 miles of automation cable built into the set.

• The castle is constructed of wood and steel, covered in Styrofoam with a scaler, and then painted.

• The pop-up candles during the “Be Our Guest” number are all controlled by computer.

• 73,185 tons of counterweight are used to balance the weight of all flying pieces.

• 85 winches are used to move all the automated scenery in the show.

• The Beast needs three people to help him into makeup, prosthetics, hair, and finally wardrobe in order to transform him into character. Originally this process took over three hours before each performance. It now takes only one hour

• There are 45 tonnes of overhead scenery; 60 tonnes including the showdeck and trucks

• 15 x 40 foot trailers are needed to transport scenery, lights, sound equipment, wardrobe & wigs from venue to venue

• 60 people plus the creative team are needed to assemble the production in each Theatre

  

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 This Page was last updated on 20/07/2005


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