Disney’s very first stage musical finally heads to Adelaide
A Disney favourite is finally heading to the Adelaide stage – find out how to join the waitlist for tickets here.
Arts
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A tale as old as time will finally come to Adelaide when Disney’s very first stage musical adaptation, Beauty and the Beast, opens at Festival Theatre next May.
Shubshri Kandiah – who made her professional debut as Princess Jasmine in the 2018-19 tour of Disney’s Aladdin – will play the beauty Belle opposite Brendan Xavier as the Beast.
Disney Theatrical Group executive producer Anne Quart said the show had been “re-imagined by members of the brilliant original creative team” and would also go to Perth in July.
“This beloved show and Belle herself are somehow as contemporary today as when they were first brought to the stage,” Ms Quart said.
Rohan Browne will play the comic candlestick Lumiere, while Jackson Head will step into the role of hunter Gaston.
Beauty and the Beast originally opened on Broadway in 1994 and in Melbourne a year later, paving the way for stage adaptations of other Disney animated hits including The Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen, but that first production did not come to Adelaide.
Join the waitlist at beautyandthebeastmusical.com.au by November 15 for priority access to tickets, with pre-sales from November 18.
CHIHULY GLASS EXHIBITION SHATTERS ADELAIDE BOTANIC GARDEN RECORDS
The Chihuly glass exhibition has smashed attendance records at Adelaide Botanic Garden, with more than 180,000 visitors in its first three weeks.
Its outdoor display of 15 large-scale installations by leading US glass artist Dale Chihuly broke the garden’s previous daily visitation record on its opening day, September 27, with 10,529 attendances across the different events.
A new daily record of 15,576 visitors was later set on October 7.
Botanic Gardens director Michael Harvey said the event had surpassed previous visitor records for when its rare Corpse Flower came into bloom.
“The buzz surrounding the unveiling of the Chihuly works, combined with school holidays and a welcome warm start to spring, has us tracking over double our attendance against the same period last year,” Mr Harvey said.
Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison MP said ticket purchases by interstate visitors were also strong, and the event was having flow-on benefits for traders in the city’s East End.
“The timing … will cross over three school holiday periods as well as several other major events that our city is well known for, giving visitors a reason to stay in Adelaide a little longer and immerse themselves in art and nature,” Ms Bettison said.
Chihuly in the Botanic Garden runs until April 29 and is free to visit during the day.
Advertiser readers can purchase discount $20 tickets for the special Chihuly Nights event in October-November using the code advertiser@chihulynights
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