Five-time Grammy Award winner Shania Twain has signed on to play Mrs. Potts in ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, a live-action and animated blended special. The reimagining of the classic story has also just added Only Murders in the Building‘s Martin Short as Lumière and Tony Award winner David Alan Grier (A Soldier’s Play) as Cogsworth.
Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek) has joined the cast as Gaston’s sidekick, LeFou. Jon Jon Briones (The Last Voyage of the Demeter) will take on the role of Maurice, Belle’s father. Leo Abelo Perry (The Big Leap) is set to play Mrs. Potts’ son, Chip.
The just-announced cast join previously announced stars Oscar winner H.E.R. (“Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah) as Belle, Grammy nominee Josh Groban as the Beast, and Tony Award nominee Joshua Henry as Gaston. EGOT winner Rita Moreno will be the special’s narrator.
Hamish Hamilton is directing and Jon M. Chu is on board as an executive producer along with Hamilton, Caitlin Foito, Raj Kapoor, Richard Kraft, and Katy Mullan. H.E.R. and Done+Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere are producing.
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration marks the 30th anniversary of the critically acclaimed, ground-breaking animated film. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to ever be nominated in the Best Picture category at the Oscars. Released in November 1991, the animated film was nominated in six categories and won two Oscars: Best Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast” by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman) and Best Original Score (Alan Menken). The soundtrack also won multiple Grammys.
The two-hour special will be taped at Disney Studios in front of a live audience. Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration will air on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 8pm ET/PT on ABC. It will stream on Disney+ beginning December 16th.
(Photo Credits: Martin Short by Caitlin Cronenberg, David Alan Grier by Etienne Laurent, Shania Twain by Alex Harbaugh,
Leo Abelo Perry by Cameron Jordan, Jon Jon Briones by Storm Santos, and Rizwan Manji by Paul Gregory)
