When you can get two Broadway legends in the room to perform at once, something pretty special happens—and the recording of the soundtrack for the animated Beauty and the Beast is no exception.
In a new clip from Howard, an upcoming documentary about the life of legendary lyricist Howard Ashman, viewers are taken behind the scenes of one of the recording sessions for “Be Our Guest.” Jerry Orbach (Lumière) and Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts) are on hand to record their parts of the song. With accompaniment from a live orchestra, it’s already evident to the people in the room that they had something special on their hands, and according to director Ken Wise the soundtrack was recorded like a Broadway cast soundtrack.
“It was musical theater heaven,” composer Alan Menken, who collaborated with Ashman, said.
Seeing Orbach and Lansbury at their best is an absolute treat, but after each take, we can catch glimpses of Ashman at work as he advised the actors about which words to put more emphasis on to create more of what he was looking for.
Howard will debut at the 2018 Tribeca Film Film Festival April 22.