Transformed from a Prince into a hideous animal, the Beast has a monstrous face concealing a heart that wants to love but doesn't know how. This predicament makes him poignant, complex and contradictory. In the words of Linda Woolverton, the Beast is "the most fascinating character in the show."

Finding the right look for him was particularly critical. Director Robert Jess Roth, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward and hair designer David Lawrence studied the appearance of different rock stars to create a magnetic theatrical presence for the character. Creating the make-up that would express a blending of beast and human was the challenge for prosthetics expert John Dods. New appliances are made daily from casts of the actor's face and are hand painted to match the actor's skin. It takes an hour and a half to apply the Beast's face piece by piece.

Beneath this frightening, menacing physical exterior, writer Linda Woolverton wanted to hint at the inner eloquence of the character. "I let him speak about larger concepts, like the pain of betrayal," she says, "so that he naturally evolves into the character who sings 'If I Can't Love Her'."

As he learns to love and his despair gives way to hope, the Beast's true nobility emerges, shining through his terrifying outer visage. But will Belle see the loving heart behind the beastly face in time to set him free?