[carrot cait]

I feel so ignorant not knowing this, but different people in the cast keep telling me different things...

At the very end, when the Beast gets stabbed, who is playing the Beast? Is it the same guy who's been playing it the whole time, or is it the Beast double? At first I was under the impression that the Beast double came out dressed as the Beast, while the real Beast was changing backstage to come out after the transformation as the Prince... Now I'm not so sure.

Enlighten me?

[musical_maven]

It depends on what your director plans to do, in our production the beast had a double who did that scene. I've seen other productions that have the actual beast getting stabbed, of course he had to get his make up off really quickly!
Hope this helped!
-Musical_Maven

[ConverseSneaker]

In my production, it was really our Beast getting stabbed, and then when he died, we had a nice hideyhole for our stage crew member to rip off the prosthetics we used. No makeup involved(other than stage makeup underneath of course). It took two minutes maybe, tops, to get it off, not including the time for the special effects of the Transformation itself.

[Bookworm]

If you can do it without makeup and get a REALLY good costume, then do so. If not, there's normally a double.

[Celeste_SM]

It is up to the director. In our production the beast double had the prolonged fight with Gaston, and we swapped in the 'real' beast during the fight, with much less makeup/mask/wig than the full beast costume. The 'real' beast was the one stabbed and then he transformed on stage.

Editing to add: If you have an extremely complex beast (wig/makeup) then the double may be used in the Battle for the conversation with Lumiere, to give the real beast time to underdress his prince gear with lighter beast costuming on top for the transformation.

[TylerMcMahon]

When I was "Beast" I ran off stage after "If I Can't Love Her (reprise)" and got all my make-up off and quickly reapplied basic stage make up and a new wig. I took my shoulder pads off and put the shirt on and the shoulder pads back on over the shirt then I put the cape back on and it had a large hood to hid my face and head. As I was dying I removed the gloves I was wearing and untied the cape. As soon as the music cue hit for the Transformation a friend of mine was hidden under the stairs by my feet and would pull my boots off. Then the Enchantress would come out and do a little dance to break the spell. As she stood in front of me with her large cape I moved to another set os stairs and took the shoulder pads off. I hid myself under the cape and would grab the Enchantress's leg so she knew to make her exit. Then I would just slowly stand up and let the cape fall. The shirt I was large was big enough to fit over the shoulder pads but now without them it was very flowing on me. My pants legs were in shreds under my boots the entire show and now the were showing.

Oh and from the stairs where my friend was to get my boots had a set of stairs opposite of it by my head and we had someone underneathe it with a trap door and they would pump out a CO2 can to make it smokey against the lighting effect we had.

[mastachen]

How is it done on Broadway?

[TylerMcMahon]

I think there is a double. With the real "Beast" hooked up to the fly gear already somewhere else.

[carrot cait]

Thanks guys... I'm still a bit confused though, since it seems like most schools do a quick change rather than having a double. Here's the 2 ways it's been expalined to me:

1. The scene where the Beast dies is played by the Beast Double. During this time, the Real Beast is backstage getting changed. When the transformation happens, the Beast Double dissappears for the rest of the show, so the Prince is the Real Beast.

2. The Beast that dies actually is the Real Beast, while the Beast Double isn't dressed as a Beast at all but as the Prince he was in the beginning. The Beast Double plays the Beast after the transformation.

The first was explained by the guy who's playing the Beast, and the second was how I interpreted what the director said. I don't entirely understand the second one though, because the Beast Double/Prince also plays Monsieur D'arque, which might make his singing/voice really recognizable. Eek, I'll ask tomorrow or something.

[musikal_geek]

I would trust the director more than a cast member...

[ConverseSneaker]

[Brigantine]

^^ That's what we did. The real Beast did everything up until the transformation, then flashpots and fog, and the Beast slithered away while the actor playing the Prince took his place. The audience was meanwhile distracted by the Enchantress coming back onstage with bright light on her doing some 'magical' motions. Then the Prince was revealed.

Not ideal, imo. It sort of rips off the actor playing the Beast to appear as the prince, but... Our Beast was older and you could tell, and the prince was young. It made a nice transformation though. The kids always screamed when the flashpots went off.

[carrot cait]

Thanks, guys

Of course, I do trust the director more than the cast member; however, the director never said this exactly, that's just how I interpreted it.

[LittleRedLovesTheater]

for our show we brought in this professional techie guy who did tech for the national tours. he taught our techies how to do the transformation & we used the Beast the whole time. we weren't allowed to know what actually happened but there was a crane that lifted up the Beast and a strobe light. then when he came back down he was magically human.....I still dont know how we did that lol!

[Celeste_SM]

A crane? Where did that sit offstage? Was it permanent or did it roll into place for that one cue? Shoot, this is pretty off topic, but I'd love to know the details of that production. I've never used a crane on-stage.

[wicked_boy]

I love knowing how effects are done onstage.

[LittleRedLovesTheater]

[Celeste_SM]

Heh, thanks! I have a zillion more questions on that, but it doesn't really matter and it sounds like you weren't on the tech end of it anyway. Thanks for the info though, sounds like an interesting technique!

[MiLeZ]

Real show=

-Last time "real" Beast is seen before transformation is If I Can't Love Her reprise
-Stunt Beast does the acting for The Battle sequence with pre-recorded voice overs
-Stunt double for fight
-Leaves when West Wing turns
-Beast (now wearing a mask) is attached to a hydraulic "arm"
-Arm lifts Beast for transformation
-Lights go out, "blinders" are set cued to distract audience
-Beast takes off mask and cape, pulls out pin which keeps him attached to the arm
-Beast is now a man.

[stlgurl702]

[MiLeZ]

how are you guys lifting the Beast?