Disney's Beauty and the Beast musical opened on Broadway in 1994.
The production began previews at the Palace Theatre in New York and officially opened on April 18, 1994. It adapted the 1991 animated film for the stage, retaining songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman while adding new material by Menken and lyricist Tim Rice.
Susan Egan originated the role of Belle, while Terrence Mann played the Beast and Burke Moses played Gaston. The musical was notable as one of Disney's first major stage adaptations developed to bring an animated feature directly to Broadway audiences.
Beauty and the Beast ran for more than 13 years and closed in 2007 after 5,461 regular performances. The Broadway production helped establish a durable Disney tradition of transforming animated films into large-scale stage musicals.