Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which opened in London at the Dominion Theatre on Tuesday 13 May 1997, last week (w/c 29 December 1997) achieved the highest grossing week's box office takings in West End history with an incredible figure of £574,685 ($930,990) - helped by the addition of an extra Christmas matinee. The show has now played over 250 performances in London and on Wednesday 7 January will be seen in London by its 500,000th vistor. With a cast of 40 and an orchestra of 25, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the most technically complex show on stage in the West End. Building work had to be undertaken to extend the rear wall of the 2000 seater Dominion Theatre, which is already one of London's largest theatres, to accommodate the massive scale of the physical production.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast currently stars Alasdair Harvey as 'Beast' and Julie-Alanah Brighten as 'Belle'. The show also features Burke Moses as 'Gaston', Derek Griffiths as 'Lumiere', Barry James as 'Cogsworth', Mary Millar as 'Mrs Potts', Norman Rossington as 'Maurice' and Di Botcher as 'Madame De La Grande Bouche'.