Instrumentation
Beauty and the Beast requires a medium-sized orchestra of about eleven or so. The original Broadway production contained about twenty-four players. The instrumentation requires two keyboards, percussion, bass, three woodwind players, a trumpet, and strings. The first woodwind player doubles on flute and piccolo. The second on English horn and oboe. The third on clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute. The original Broadway had five woodwind players. The first doubled on flute and piccolo. The second on English horn and oboe. The third on piccolo, flute, and clarinet. The fourth on piccolo, flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet. The fifth on bassoon and contrabassoon. Alternate instrumentation is also given out by Music Theatre International, the company that holds the Beauty and the Beast license.
Read more about this topic: Beauty And The Beast (musical)