The musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 18, 1994 closed on July 29, 2007 after 46 previews and 5,461 performances, and is Broadway's ninth-longest running production in history (as of December 2014). The production holds the record of being the longest running production at both the Palace Theatre, where it opened, and the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it closed its Broadway run.
Tell about your experiences working in Beauty and the Beast… What was it like working with such a unique costume?
James Barbour: I loved Beauty. It was home for so long and a great deal of my life unfolded during my time with the show. I built some tremendous friendships that continue to this day and I am grateful for the experience. As far as the costume…let me put it this way, I have an 80 pound Golden retriever…imagine him strapped to my back (only he's cuter). The costume was fantastic in many ways. It gave me a sense of who the 'Beast' was. The structure of the costume forced me to walk a certain way. The sheer mass of the costume slowed me down a bit and gave me more "weight' in both the literal and figurative sense. In the winter I loved it but in the summer…forget about it.
JAMES BARBOUR responds to a fan. Autograph Letter signed: "James Barbour", 1998 October 21. On letterhead of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, The Broadway Musical, written to "Stephen", in full: "Thank you for your kind note of October 16th. I have enclosed a signed photograph as per your request. And I must say that I am delighted that my performance had such a positive effect. Thanks again, and best wishes!"
