Man! I feel like a teapot: Martin Short and Shania Twain in talks for ABC's Beauty And The Beast: A 30th Celebration
The upcoming Beauty And The Beast TV special stars H.E.R. and Josh Groban
Martin Short and Shania Twain are entering final talks to sign on to ABC’s upcoming rendition of Beauty And The Beast, as reported by Variety. 30 years ago, the 1991 Disney classic became the first animated movie to get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Then, it went on to have a successful life as a Broadway musical before it became a live-action remake starring Emma Watson in 2017. Now, this new version will be a blend of live-action and animation, so these are potentially voice roles.
Short is expected to play Lumière. The veteran comedy actor currently stars in the Hulu mystery series Only Murders In The Building, which recently released its second season and has a third on the way.
Twain, meanwhile, would be playing Mrs. Potts. The superstar country singer was the subject of the Netflix documentary Not Just A Girl earlier this year, which followed her rise to fame in the ’90s to the recording of her upcoming sixth studio album. She just shared its first single, and her first new music since 2017, “Waking Up Dreaming.”
Beauty And The Beast: A 30th Celebration stars H.E.R. as Belle and Josh Groban as the Beast, which is a truly remarkable combination of target demographics. It was previously announced that the special will be adding supplementary musical numbers to the source material and will feature performances recorded in front of a live studio audience.
Variety also reports that David Alan Grier will be portraying Cogsworth. Joshua Henry has been cast as Gaston, and Rita Moreno will be providing narration.
The special is being directed by Hamish Hamilton, who previously made The Little Mermaid Live! for the network. Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu serves as an executive producer; he previously established his interest in musicals with In The Heights and is currently at work on Wicked.
Beauty And The Beast: A 30th Celebration airs on ABC on December 15 and will be available on Disney+ on December 16.