The all-new North American tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast can currently be seen onstage at the National Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Matt West, this reimagined 30th-anniversary production is brought to life by members of the show’s original creative team. The musical features a book by Linda Woolverton and a score by Alan Menken (music) and Howard Ashman/Tim Rice (lyrics). DC Theatre Arts’ Julia Tucker caught up with lead actors Kyra Belle Johnson (Belle) and Fergie L. Philippe (Beast) during opening weekend of the musical’s highly anticipated DC run.  This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow. Kyra Belle Johnson and Fergie L. Philippe. Photos courtesy of the National Theatre. What are the greatest challenges of playing these iconic roles, and what aspects have been the most rewarding as performers? Kyra Belle Johnson: What’s challenging for me is the expectation. Belle is a very precious character to many people. I get no shortage of being told that at the stage door, when I meet people, or in interviews. She was one of the first princesses who really stood up for herself, and she leads with kindness. That means a lot, and she represents a very strong and intelligent young woman. A lot of people connect with that, so a challenge is to maintain and uplift that character to the expectations of the people who feel so connected to her.  The most rewarding aspect is hearing the vocal reactions in the audience in the middle of the show, where they can’t help but audibly react because they’re feeling so connected to the story. I think that’s a tip of the hat to the writing and to the orchestrations and the job that’s being done by everybody on the stage to keep the audience so emotionally invested. It’s very rewarding to hear a laugh from a comedic drop that we spent all scene setting up for. Or, we’ve spent a few numbers building the emotional care that the audience feels, and then to hear their hearts breaking when something happens is the most rewarding part for me. Fergie L. Philippe: In general, the role is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, just in terms of physicality and vocal stamina. Just trying to keep up and making sure that I’m doing it as healthily as possible because the Beast is yelling in most of the scenes that he’s doing. But more so, one of the challenges that the creative team always warned me about (because we’ve added a lot of humor to the show) is balancing humor for the sake of setting up the character vs. humor for the sake of getting laughs and understanding the clear differences. We set up certain comedic bits in the show to get the audience to understand who the Beast is and not just to make him funny. Backing off what Kyra said, the reactions … when kids try to talk to us when we are on stage. There is nothing more challenging than not laughing, because I’ll run out on stage and hear a little girl go, “Hi, Beast!” and I have to keep being scary when all I really want to do is go hug that child. It’s incredible how people come and immediately just surrender to this lovely story and these characters. That’s a reminder of why we are doing it. It’s to get people to that place of childlike wonder.  Kyra Belle Johnson as Belle and Fergie L. Philippe as Beast in Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Photo by Matthew Murphy. © Disney Is there a particular song or scene in the show that you find especially meaningful to perform? Fergie L. Philippe: I have a song in the show called “If I Can’t Love Her,” and it has a reprise toward the end of the second act. I won’t give too much away for people who haven’t seen the show yet, but it’s a very intimate and vulnerable moment for Beast that I don’t think we ever get except in that one moment. Especially at performances when Kyra and I are really feeling the scene, the song can get quite emotional for me. That’s a special one that often hits me by surprise. Kyra Belle Johnson: “A Change in Me” is just one of the most beautiful additions to the show that I think exists. There’s a moment at the beginning of the show where Maurice (Belle’s father) is talking about how he changed and transformed when he met his wife. The underscoring of that moment is the music of “A Change in Me,” so I hear that at the beginning of the show. Then that same piece of music plays again when we hit the dialogue before singing “A Change in Me.” It’s so satisfying because hearing that same piece of music with a new perspective connects the dots for Belle from the beginning of the show and how much she has changed. I would say that’s one of the more satisfying parts to perform for me.    Where were you when you found out you were cast, and what was that moment like? Kyra Belle Johnson: Mine is so simple. I was literally just in my apartment with my boyfriend and my cat, and it was morning time. We were making coffee, and my agent called me. The weekend before, walking out of the audition room, I knew that I did my best and I had so much fun. I was just jumping up and down, thinking, “Oh, this is going to be so fun,” because I feel like the Belle that I brought into the audition room is exactly the Belle that I’d want to play on the road for a year. I just thought, I’m just going to have fun with this, and my life is going to be so different. We’re going to be touring and entering the Disney princess canon (which is absolutely insane). Fergie L. Philippe: I was fortunate, but also rather shocked — I found out a couple of hours after I walked out of the audition room. I had gone home, and I went to sleep because both of our final callback days were very long. I had been there for about five hours doing all kinds of work sessions, scenes, and singing. I went home and fell asleep on the couch watching TV. I woke up to my girlfriend furiously poking me because my agent was calling. I honestly thought my agent was just calling me to ask how it went, and he said, “Hey, I just want you to know that you got (the part).” Thank God I have a video of it, because I wasn’t processing it right since I was still waking up (laughs) … it was amazing. Kyra and I had the pleasure of doing our final callback together. I remember walking out of there saying to myself, “I felt very good about what I did, but I know Kyra got it,” and I loved getting to see that. That is so cool to witness when somebody’s about to get something, because it just says how good they are. Kyra Belle Johnson: That’s how I felt about him (Fergie). I did the scene with him once, and thought, “Oh, this man is going to be the Beast, whether or not I’m doing this.” He just had all the versatility, and I’ve never sympathized with the Beast as much as I have when it’s been Fergie creating him to be a whole, rounded human being (while touching on the iconic animated feature character that we all fell in love with). So I knew it was going to be him, and he says he knew it was going to be me, but we’ll never know the truth. Fergie L. Philippe: That is the truth! (Laughs) Kyra Belle Johnson as Belle and Fergie L. Philippe as Beast in ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.’ Photo by Matthew Murphy. © Disney Beauty and the Beast debuted on Broadway more than 30 years ago and has had blockbuster global productions since. What do you think makes the show resonate across generations, and what do you hope audiences take away from this production? Kyra Belle Johnson: I think that the reason why it has stuck around as long as it has is definitely attributed to the writing of Linda Woolverton (book writer) and the characters that she created. We all have a character in this film that mirrors somebody we love or recognize to the core in our lives. We all have a Gaston, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, LeFou, Belle, or Beast. These characters were fleshed out so brilliantly and so humanly that we relate to them ourselves, or we see our family or our friends in them, and that spans generations. Something we hear a lot at the stage door is, “Beauty and the Beast was my first Broadway show 30 years ago, and now I’m taking my kid and this is the first musical she’s ever seen.” It’s so fun for them, and I can see it in their eyes and hear it in the way that they talk about it. To have their first theatrical experience shared with their child … it’s a true family gathering, and every generation can come. For people who don’t typically go to the theater, this is a great intro show, and I think that’s what’s so great about Disney being on Broadway. It really connects people who are fans of Disney stories and films, and they see a Disney musical on stage … and then a theater lover grows from that. That’s also been one of the most satisfying and joyful parts of doing this show specifically on tour.  Fergie L. Philippe: Yeah, Kyra said it perfectly. The number of times at the stage door that a guy pulls me aside and says, “Hey man, my girlfriend (or wife) told me I had to come here with the kids … I wasn’t expecting to like it, but this is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” I think that something Beauty and the Beast has always done is push past the expectation of what it was going to be, even when it debuted. It changed the perception of not only musicals and films, but even musicals on Broadway and how we engage with that kind of material. It’s a legacy starter and a generational foundation for so many kinds of memories, but also for different perspectives on how we appreciate musical theater.  Fergie, I know you’ve been on Broadway in Hamilton (Hercules Mulligan and James Madison) and Camelot (Sir Sagramore/King Arthur u/s), and Kyra, I know you previously starred as Sophie in the national tour of Mamma Mia! How does this experience differ from those previous experiences? Kyra Belle Johnson: Mamma Mia! was 10 years ago (the 2015/16 tour), and it was a nonunion tour. I was 18 years old, so it’s a pretty drastic change in terms of even who I was when I was in that job and approaching that job. Between then and now, I went to college for four years, got a degree, moved to New York City, and lived there for four years. There’s just a lot of life, emotional and intellectual growth, and more knowledge about myself, my patterns, and how to take care of myself. That has brought great wisdom to this year for me. My life experience, getting some more training, and knowing myself more have made this tour a very different experience for me.  Fergie L. Philippe: The thing that sticks out to me the most about this particular project is that I have really enjoyed getting to know this group of people that I’m working with, especially our cast. We are very aware of the very special thing that we are doing with this story specifically, and we’re very conscious of what we’re bringing to people today and how we are bringing joy and intentional connection between family members. There’s just nothing like getting into a theater in the dark and watching a story happen in front of you and laughing and crying with a group of people. That’s just such a rare experience, and it seems like that experience is dwindling in other forms of media. The fact that we get to still do that in a theater is what connects all of those experiences, but I feel like with this one (as opposed to Hamilton or Camelot), I’m more conscious of that than I may have been in the past.  Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast plays through April 5, 2026, at The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets (starting at $129) online or at the National Theatre box office.  The national tour cast and creative credits are online here. SEE ALSO: ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast’ on tour at the National is an awesome spectacle(review by Zoe Winsky, March 20, 2026) ...read more read less