• Over 140 wigs are worn on stage each night; only three performers use their own hair on stage.

• Four characters’ wigs are made of yak hair: Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Madame de la Grande Bouche, and the Sugar Bowl from “Be Our Guest.”

• 248 pieces of hair are used on stage each night – including wigs, moustaches, and bangs.

• The average number of wig changes for each ensemble member is eight per show.

• The 30-inch length human hair needed to build Belle’s wig was specially imported from India.

• It took 20 pounds of human hair and 400 man hours to create the first Beast.

• The Beast’s tail is made up of seven yards of human hair.

• There are 50 pounds of hairpins backstage ready to go at all times.

LIGHTING

• There are a total of 1,358 lighting instruments, using 1,200,00 watts of light – enough to light up a football stadium.

• There are 59 vari lights, with over 350 cues. Each Vari*Lite has a Macintosh computer within and has 256 colour choices and 12 pattern choices.

• There are over 1,120 lamps on the “Be Our Guest” portals alone: 600 feet of neon are also used on these same portals.

• Over 339 strobe lights are used in the show.

• There are three miles of lighting cables running through the theatre.

• There are 120 gobos (metal pieces that make lighting effects and patterns on the set) used in the design.

• There are over 350 lighting cues called by the stage manager per performance.

PROSTHETICS

• The prosthetic makeup was designed by John Dods.

• Over 80 prosthetic makeup pieces are used in the show.

• The face prosthetic pieces are thrown away each evening after the hair is removed from them. The hair is reused after it is cleaned.

• The prosthetics are made of Latex with soft poly foam.

SPECIAL EFFECTS AND PYROTECHNICS

• There are 37 special effects in the show.

• 11 magic tricks are used.

• The Enchantress’ fireball is the first known throwable hand-held device of its kind. She can hold the ball of fire in her hand until it burns out without any physical damage. It was a year and a half in development.

• Lumiere’s hands are made of flameproof plastic surrounding a flame device that uses one ounce of liquid butane per hand per show. This translates to four pounds of butane per month.

• In one year, over 400 pounds of solid explosives are also used.

TECHNICAL

• The scenery, which was designed by Stanley Meyer, took four months to build and eight weeks to load into the show’s original New York and London homes. On the national tour, this load-in will be completed within four days.

• There are 12 miles of automation cable built into the set.

• The castle is constructed of wood and steel, covered in Styrofoam with a scaler, and then painted.

• The pop-up candles during the “Be Our Guest” number are all controlled by computer.

• 73,185 tons of counterweight are used to balance the weight of all flying pieces.

• 85 winches are used to move all the automated scenery in the show.

WARDROBE

• The costumes are made of many different materials, such as fabric, vacuform plastic (vinyl and mylar), latex, and spring materials.

• The Beast needs three people to help him into makeup, prosthetics, hair, and finally wardrobe in order to transform him into character. Originally this process took over three hours before each performance. It now takes only one hour.

TOURING

• There are 45 tonnes of overhead scenery; 60 tonnes including the showdeck and trucks

• 15 x 40 foot trailers are needed to transport scenery, lights, sound equipment, wardrobe & wigs from venue to venue

• 60 people plus the creative team are needed to assemble the production in each Theatre