'Beauty and the Beast' Takes Last Bow on Broadway

The final curtain falls on Beauty and the Beast today after more than 5,000 performances and 13 years on Broadway. The show that started the Disney-on-Broadway rage will exit the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to make room for a stage adaptation of another kiddie staple, The Little Mermaid, the AP reports.

Striking fear in the hearts of purists, the show's producer tells Playbill: "Beauty and the Beast will continue to live on in regional and high school productions around the world." Only one original cast members has stuck with the show since day one: Bill Nabel, the corkscrew in the "Be Our Guest" number featuring enchanted kitchenware. (More Broadway stories.)