This 'Beauty and the Beast' has an 'all-star creative team'

Oswego native Brandon Haagenson has vivid movie-theater memories as a 6-year-old kid seeing Disney's hit 1991 animated feature "Beauty and the Beast." Now at age 24, Haagenson is performing in the ensemble of the new national tour of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast."

"It's a dream come true," said Haagenson. "It really is an all-star creative team."

Typically non-Equity tours rely on old sets and costumes that were purchased from a closed tour. But with this new tour of "Beauty," NETworks took the unusual step of reassembling the creative team behind the original Broadway production that ran from 1994 to 2007.

"It was such a unique opportunity to go back after 16 years and look at the work," said director Rob Roth. "What directors of big hit shows get to go back with the original creative team and look at their work again?"

That creative team includes Tony Award winners Ann Hould-Ward (costumes) and Natasha Katz (lighting), plus choreographer Matt West and set designer Stanley A. Meyer.

Instead of slavishly recreating the original look of the show, Roth says this "Beauty and the Beast" has been streamlined in its look. The script has also been tweaked, with the Alan Menken/Tim Rice songs "No Matter What" and "Maison des Lunes" dropped while incorporating the song "A Change in Me" (originally added in the Broadway production when R&B singer Toni Braxton assumed the role of Belle).

Working with Roth and the design team has been eye-opening for Haagenson, who has previously performed in two regional "Beauty and the Beast" productions.

"I really like their fresh new take on the story," Haagenson said. It was also "really inspirational to walk into rehearsals every day and (to work with people) who had been with the show from the ground up."

Haagenson is looking forward to performing near his hometown, especially at the Cadillac Palace Theatre where he first saw Disney's tour of "The Lion King" as an Oswego High School senior in 2003. Haagenson is heartened that his high school drama teachers plan on seeing him perform, along with his parents, family friends and his six siblings.

By now Haagenson is used to jokes by friends who ask him what type of utensil he plays in the show.

"That was my same question when I came into rehearsal," Haagenson said, revealing that in the big production number "Be Our Guest," he gets to be a fork and a dual salt-and-pepper shaker.