Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

A leader of Disney’s ’90s musical renaissance, Beauty and the Beast has it all: songs balancing musical-theatre tropes with pop appeal, romantic strife and some singing-candelabra whimsy. The interpretative skills of Susan Egan (Belle) and Terrence Mann (the Beast) prove they’re worthy foils-turned-lovers on their solo performances and the transformative closing duet. The rest of the cast, particularly Tom Bosley’s fatherly turn as mad scientist Maurice and Gary Beach’s delightful Lumière, help crack open the darkness shrouding the Beast’s castle.