Disney's Beauty and the Beast will have its Irish premiere in November and the show’s director and choreographer Matt West promises a spectacular night out.
Based on the 1991 film - the first animated feature ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture - Beauty and the Beast the musical opened on Broadway in April 1994.
The show ran there for more than 13 years, received nine Tony nominations and one win, and remains to this day among the top 10 longest-running shows in Broadway history.
And for Matt West, this production is – quite literally – a dream come true as he was given the freedom to bring new ideas and the latest technology to smarten up the famous show, which runs at Dublin's Bord Gais Energy Theatre from November 24 to January 8.
He says: "Through the years, when I would go to other countries to see an opening night or see the production that was running there, I can’t lie, I would say to myself, 'Oh if I had the chance to re-think that!
"Well here’s the chance to take all of those ideas and put them into the pot and stir it up, and we’ve come back together for this new production of Beauty and the Beast.
"We were given this opportunity to completely re-think the show – and we have," he insists."
The romantic tale may be as old as time, but it has been reimagined and re-designed by the original Tony award-winning creative team.
They’re using state-of-the-art theatrical wizardry, lighting, and costume construction which will add another layer of magic to this enchanted story.
"There’s so much more technology now that’s available in the world," says West. "We can use LED, projections, shadows – I mean, what a gift this is. We’re having a ball!"
