Tartaglia and Freeman to Join Cast of Beauty and the Beast

John Tartaglia and Jonathan Freeman will respectively take over the roles of Lumière and Cogsworth in the Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as of Tuesday, November 21.

Tartaglia received a 2004 Tony Award nomination for his performance as Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q, and he also appeared in the Las Vegas production. He is the star, executive producer and creator of Playhouse Disney’s new live action musical puppet series Johnny and The Sprites, which will premiere in January 2007 on the Disney Channel.

Freeman received a Tony nomination for his role of the Headwaiter in the 1993 revival of the musical She Loves Me. He has also been seen on Broadway in The Producers, 42nd Street, On the Town, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and he is well known for having provided the voice of Jafar in Disney’s animated feature Aladdin.

In Beauty and the Beast, Tartaglia and Freeman will star opposite Sarah Uriarte Berry as Belle, Steve Blanchard as the Beast, Donny Osmond (who recently extended his engagement through December 24) as Gaston, Jeanne Lehmann as Mrs. Potts, Mary Stout as Madame de la Grand Bouche, Meredith Inglesby as Babette, and Aldrin Gonzalez as Lefou. The show, which opened in April 1994, has run for more than 5,000 performances.