NEW YORK – Fergie L. Philippe first saw the stage musical “Beauty and the Beast” pretty late, as a freshman in college. Kyra Belle Johnson got to know it much earlier — in sixth grade she played a sugar cube in a middle school production.
Years later, they've been picked to lead the first North American tour of the musical presented by Disney in over 25 years, which gets underway this summer.
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Philippe, playing the Beast, and Johnson, portraying the young woman who transforms the morose creature with the power of her love, are looking forward to seeing audiences of kids about to have their first live theater experience and parents who remember their own “Beauty and the Beast” memories.
“Disney stories are all in our DNA, whether we know it or not. They are part of the American experience. And I think that one thing that’s going to be really exciting is the multigenerational experience of this,” says Philippe.
The tour will launch in Schenectady, New York, in June with an official opening in Chicago in July. Philippe and Johnson have signed up for 13 months.
Based on the 1991 animated film, “Beauty and the Beast” tells the story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell, who has to remain a Beast unless he can learn to love and be loved.
The show features catchy songs written by composer Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, including “Be Our Guest” and “Gaston.” The witty dialogue is by Linda Woolverton. “Beauty and the Beast” was the first animated movie to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture.
“Something that really stands out to me in this story that I think is timeless is the idea of walking into any room with preconceived notions based on the way someone looks,” Johnson says.
“And allowing yourself to be open, and learn new things, and forgive and give second chances and finding love in spaces that you maybe wouldn’t have expected to.”
Johnson, born and raised in Los Angeles, was bitten early by the theater bug. “My mom says that I was singing in the crib,” she says. She was 7 when she saw a production of “Oliver!” and it changed her life.
“There were a bunch of kids on stage and I was like, ‘I can do that?’ And my mom was like, ‘Yeah, if you want to.’ And I was like, ‘I want to,’” she says. "It hit me hard and it never let go."
She soon took a flurry of classes, did shows in school and theater camp in summer. At just 18, she led the 2015 Broadway national tour of “Mamma Mia!” as Sophie and then earned a bachelor's degree in musical theater from Texas State University.
“Beauty and the Beast” was the third musical she ever did after “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” She recalls being 11 and one of her roles required high kicks while in a box made to resemble a sugar cube during “Be Our Guest.”
“I grew up watching this movie. Belle was always one of my favorites. She had the best songs. The men wanted her. The girls were jealous of her. Belle had it all," she says. "I love this show. I always have.”
Philippe, a baritone born in New York and raised in Miami, came to musical theater from a love of puppetry, particularly Jim Henson and “Sesame Street.”
“I was amazed by the colors and the textures of the puppets. And when I was a kid, I was gutting stuffed animals and trying to turn them into puppets,” he says laughing.
His fascination for how puppets were controlled led to an interest in the stage and he graduated with a BFA from Elon University. He played Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in both the Broadway and touring productions of "Hamilton."
Philippe and Johnson first met at the final callbacks for the “Beauty and the Beast.” They were paired up among several other candidates for the two lead roles. She knew he would get it.
“We were sitting in the room, and you just brought the Beast to life," she tells him. "You had such a nuance and a playfulness, and I just knew. I was like, ‘This man is booking this role. He’s incredible.’”
Philippe was equally impressed, especially when they were asked to do a scene with her holding a book. Johnson didn't mime it with her hands or use any old book. She pulled out a beautifully bound, illustrated Charles Dickens volume from 1957, the kind of book she believed Belle would own and cherish.
“She was like, ‘Sorry, I just I need this for myself to be able to get into it,’" Philippe says. ”I love when actors know that thing that’s going to help them dive in. I have such immense respect for that."