City Springs Theatre Company’s next production is Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Baayork Lee.
Lee began her illustrious Broadway career, both onstage and behind the scenes, at the ripe age of five when she appeared in the original Broadway production of “The King and I.” But she is perhaps best remembered for originating the role of Connie in 1975’s “A Chorus Line.”
Lee would go on to become a close collaborator of Michael Bennett, director and co-choreographer of the original Broadway production of “A Chorus Line,” as well as a fruitful directing and choreographing career of her own. In 2017, she received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, which honors members of the theater industry for their charity work.
Lee first came to City Springs when she directed “South Pacific” in 2019, and “Beauty and the Beast” marks the fourth production for the Sandy Springs company. Based on the Disney film of the same name, “Beauty and the Beast” first premiered on Broadway in 1994, telling the story of an unkind prince transformed into a beast and his attempts to make a beautiful young woman fall in love with him to break the curse.
The City Springs production, which runs from March 8-24, stars Diane Phelan as Belle, Christian Magby as the Beast, Candice Song Donehoo as Mrs. Potts, Stanley Allyn Owen as Gaston, Nick Walker Jones as Lumiere, and many more. Rough Draft spoke with Lee about the production prior to the show’s opening.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You made your Broadway debut at the age of five in the original production of “The King and I.” What do you remember about that experience and about being on Broadway when you were so young?
Baayork Lee: Everything. Every moment, every second. I made a decision at five that I wanted to be in the theater. I would have my mother bring me down very early after…
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