Friday, February 3, 2017

'Beauty and the Beast' annotated track list

The full track list for Beauty and the Beast soundtrack surfaced online yesterday and gave fans even more information to pore over ahead of the film's March 17th release. Below you will find an annotated track list, complete with images and scenes from the film, along with interview excerpts from the cast and crew.

The deluxe edition soundtrack is now available for pre-order and will be released on Friday, March 10th.

Disc One
1. Overture
The brand-new Beauty and the Beast overture, arranged by Alan Menken's long-time music director Michael Kosarin in the style and tradition of the great 1950’s film overtures, was originally recorded by a 100-piece symphonic studio orchestra, and takes us through the songs we loved best from the 1991 animated film, as well as some of the gorgeous new songs written for this live-action one.
2. Main Title: Prologue Pt. 1

3. Aria/ Audra McDonald
“It’s a moment within the prologue, just before the spell befalls the castle,” Menken says. “We’re actually at an event at the Prince’s castle, where the Prince is about to be turned into the Beast, and he’s in his very selfish and self-indulgent phase of his life, and we see that, and we have the magnificent Audra McDonald singing this number.”

4. Main Title: Prologue Pt. 2


5. Belle/ Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Ensemble


6. How Does A Moment Last Forever (Music Box)/ Kevin Kline
“It ends up being a song called ‘Our Song Lives On,’ (now titled "How Does a Moment Last Forever) and it’s done in a number of forms,” says Menken of the former track. “The first time it’s sung, it’s Belle’s father singing as he’s completing a music box, and basically it’s [about], ‘How does a moment live forever? How do you hang on to precious moments?’ Then, it’s reprised by Belle, and then it’s the song that’s actually over the end credits at the end of the movie. Disney hasn’t announced it yet, but there’s going to be some wonderful singer on the end credits song."

7. Belle (Reprise)/ Emma Watson


8. Gaston/ Josh Gad, Luke Evans, Ensemble

“In ‘Gaston,’ we had a treasure trove of lyrics that Howard had written that we did not put in the movie,” Alan Menken tells EW. “In many cases they were a little bit risqué — not risqué sexually, but risqué in terms of sensibility. We all felt ready to have these lyrics. When Bill found out about those lyrics, he said, ‘Oh my god, can we please look at that, because it would be a wonderful way to add an extra freshness to the movie.’ So, yes, you’re going to hear some unheard Howard Ashman lyrics.”

“The guys at Disney reviewed all the transcripts and recordings and they’ve been able to go back through those hours and hours of recorded footage and listen to lyrics that were written and never used, which are actually gems,” Luke Evans, who plays Gaston in the live-action version and performs the character’s self-titled song, says. “So, for the [audience members] who know the songs immensely well, which I think is most people, you will hear a few new lines, which are really, really special.”

9. Be Our Guest/ Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Director Bill Condon: “Well, it’s interesting to do what is going to be our biggest musical number with nobody there, except for some cutaways to Belle. It’s a four-minute number that cost more than Mr. Holmes’ entire budget. We shot it with first and second unit for over a month and it’s taken over a year to put it together — and six months before that to plan it. I would guess that is pretty far up there in terms of most intricate and elaborate musical numbers ever shot.”

“We just spent months and months and months and months. Anthony [Van Laast] choreographed it, and we took that into a kind of computer world, and applied it to the characters. It’s going to feel very real. Photo real. It’s the most intricate thing I’ve ever worked on.”
Read more from choreographer Anthony Van Laast, Ewan McGregor (Lumiere), and Emma Watson (Belle) here.  

10. Days In The Sun/ Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Audra McDonald, Adam Mitchell, Stanley Tucci, Clive Rowe
The third new song is called “Days in the Sun” and, according to Beauty and the Beast producer David Hoberman, is a very special number indeed. When EW visited the film’s London set last year, Hoberman told us he believed the song is destined to win Menken a ninth Academy Award to go with the eight he already has for his work on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and the animated Beauty and the Beast.

“Well, that’s great of him to say that,” admits Menken.“ ‘Days in the Sun’ is a moment when all of the objects in the castle —and Belle — are going to sleep. Basically, everybody in the castle is having memories of what it used to be when they had their days in the sun. It’s sort of a combination of a lullaby and a remembrance of happier days for everybody.”
11. Something There/ Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Dan Stevens, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nathan Mack



12. How Does A Moment Last Forever (Montmartre)/ Emma Watson

13. Beauty and the Beast/ Emma Thompson
Oh wow… It was one of the first scenes we filmed...the ballroom scene. Watson and Stevens dancing to Beauty and the Beast. That really puts you on a high.” --Director Bill Condon

14. Evermore/ Dan Stevens
“‘For Evermore’ (now titled "Evermore") is this moment where the Beast now loves Belle, and he realizes that she misses her father, and he acknowledges she’s no longer a prisoner, and when she sees her father’s in trouble, he says, ‘Go to him, go.’ And he voluntarily lets her go,” Menken continues. “He’s basically singing about how he now knows what love is, as he watches her leave, and he’s climbing up the turret of the castle as she recedes into the distance, just watching her go further and further away.”

15. The Mob Song/ Emma Thompson, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Luke Evans, Ensemble - Beauty and the Beast, Stanley Tucci, Nathan Mack

16. Beauty and the Beast (Finale)/ Audra McDonald, Emma Thompson, Ensemble

17. How Does A Moment Last Forever/ Celine Dion
Written by eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”) and veteran lyricist and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (“The Lion King,” “Evita”), “How Does A Moment Last Forever” is an emotional ballad about holding onto life’s precious moments. Portions of the song are performed throughout the film and interpolated into the underscore before Dion’s full-length version debuts in the film’s custom main-on-end title design.

Celine Dion says, “Being a part of the original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was such a magical experience in my life, and I’m truly honored to be a part of this film again.”

President of Music for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Production, Mitchell Leib, approached the artist on behalf of the project with the idea of recording one of the three new songs written for the film. “Celine was the unanimous choice of the filmmakers and studio to perform this song,” says Leib, “And everyone involved with the film is thrilled she agreed to be part of this new live-action adaptation.”
18. Beauty and the Beast/ John Legend, Ariana Grande

19. Evermore/ Josh Groban
Says Groban, “I am honored to sing this beautiful new song by two of my absolute favorites, Alan Menken and Tim Rice. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has been with me since my childhood and to have a musical connection to this new film makes me so happy.”

Mitchell Leib, president of music for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Production, helped to bring Groban into the musical mix for the film. “Alan Menken, director Bill Condon and I were talking about which contemporary recording artist could even sing such a demanding song, let alone succeed with it. Josh stood alone,” says Leib. “His voice is a natural fit for this showstopper of a composition.”
20. Aria (Demo)/ Alan Menken


21. How Does A Moment Last Forever (Music Box- Demo/ Alan Menken


22. Days In The Sun (Demo)/ Alan Menken


23. How Does A Moment Last Forever (Montmartre- Demo/ Alan Menken


24. Evermore (Demo)/ Alan Menken


Disc Two
1. Main Title: Prologue
“Something that Bill (Condon, director) and I were really keen to bring out was the sense of this petulant, spoiled child and the sense of sort of entitlement that led to his downfall,” [Dan] Stevens said.

“It was interesting to introduce that element and see that through and thread it though the Beast’s story and see him cursed not just for having refused a rose, but for all his other traits that he could be damned for,” he added.

2. Belle Meets Gaston
"We didn't tone him down. I think we did the opposite. Everything he does, he does extreme. There was no point trying to tone it down." -Luke Evans (Gaston)

3. Your Mother
“Kevin Kline as Maurice, is making all these music boxes that have to tell the story of Belle not traveling,” says the film’s set decorator, Katie Spencer. “She’s overprotected in a way, by her father, because she’s lost her mother. So, we’ve made all these music boxes that represent different countries of the world, so she can see what she’s missing.”

4. The Laverie

5. Wolf Chase

6. Entering the Castle

7. A White Rose
For his own film, [director Bill] Condon is looking to use the entire original score, plus three new songs by Alan Menken. While he hasn't taken much from the Broadway version ("it really didn't seem to help that much on what we're up to"), he has drawn from Jean Cocteau's 1946 version, "which I love".


8. The Beast

9. Meet the Staff

10. Home

11. Madame De Garderobe
"She's a very larger than life character. I will say, it's not subtlest role I've ever played, but I had a lot of fun. Stanley Tucci (Cadenza) and I would say to each other, 'We're going to win Academy Awards for these performances!'"

Watch the full "Conversations with Audra McDonald" video here.


12. There's a Beast
"Physically, the Beast is the most challenging role I've taken on," [Dan] Stevens told IGN at the 2017 winter TV Critics Association press tour, where he was promoting Legion. "The condition I had to have my body in to puppeteer that suit on stilts was like nothing else I've ever experienced, seriously. The kind of engagement -- and actually a lot of dance involved in that role, albeit on stilts; it was a very, very intense dance training process -- has gotten me more physically engaged with all of my performances in everything else since."

13. A Petal Drops
Belle: "What happens when the last petal falls?"
Lumiere: "The Master remains a beast forever."
Cogsworth: "And we become antiques."

14. A Bracing Cup of Tea
Chip: "Want to see me do a trick?"

15. The West Wing
Beast: "What did you do to it? 
Belle: "Nothing."
Beast: "Get out of here! Go!"

16. Wolves Attack Belle

17. The Library

18. Colonnade Chat
Belle: "I never thanked you for saving my life."
Beast: "I never thanked you for not leaving me to be eaten by wolves."

19. The Plague

20. Maurice Accuses Gaston
Director Bill Condon on Luke Evans (Gaston): “Well you know, you’re in a small room with him and suddenly he starts singing and it’s again, that combination of quality, he’s so handsome, so funny, a little goofy too, and you know what he has that seems to be essential in something like this? It’s even when he’s singing Kill The Beast, you get that joy of someone that has this talent; this huge, great, rich voice, that he’s sharing with you and I think that that’s the essence of musicals. It’s the joy of performing, and he has that like crazy.”


21. Beast Takes a Bath

22. The Dress
“The gold of the dress is De Garderobe’s gift to Belle,” [Jacqueline] Durran says. “The gold flies down from the rococo ceiling as if by magic, to be the final layer.” In real life, gold leaf and glitter were printed on the dress to echo the ballroom floor.

“She has really beautiful hand-painted shoes with golden flowers,” says Durran of Watson’s custom footwear. “They are heeled, 18th-century shoes, but they are something that Belle can run in and that she can go off and save her father in.”

Read more from Emma Watson and costume designer Jacqueline Durran here.

23. You Must Go to Him

24. Belle Stops the Wagon

25. Castle Under Attack


26. Turret Pursuit


27. You Came Back

28. Transformations


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