Beauty and The Beast will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a live extravaganza starring Josh Groban and H.E.R. The pair will star as the Beast and Belle, respectively, in the two-hour special, which will pay tribute to the Disney classic in front of a live audience. Josh spoke to HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview, in partnership with Josh Cellars, and gushed over working alongside H.E.R. “It’s been so amazing. I’m such a fan of H.E.R.’s music. She’s amazing and so multi-talented,” he told HL. “Oftentimes, all roads lead to musical theater and Disney movies, and no matter what genre of music we all go into, we all grew up with a lot of the same passions for this music. So, working with her and and singing with her and blending our voices and love of this material has been really so unexpected and so beautiful.”
Josh went on to call the Grammy winning artist a “treasure.” In a recent teaser for the Dec. 15 event, H.E.R. and Josh stand next to either other in a modernized version of the iconic Belle and Beast outfits. The “Fight For You” singer updated Belle’s traditional gold gown with a tailored suit, while Josh wore a dark blue cloak.
The ABC live special is sure to be something audiences have never seen the likes of before, according to Josh! “This is something that they’ve been working on for years, and so they’re taking it really seriously. For those of us that are in the cast, we’ve taken out a huge block of time to be in there. We’ve been in there almost every day, because there’s a lot of moving parts — I don’t want to give anything away, but there’s a lot of moving parts,” he teased. “It’s going to be visually really spectacular. So, we all have a lot of beats to hit, we all have a lot of things we need to rehearse, and we’re taking a lot of time to do that.”
In addition to Groban and H.E.R. as the Beast and Belle, the cast will also feature a host of other impeccable talent, including Rita Moreno as the narrator, Joshua Henry as Gaston, Martin Short as Lumière, David Alan Grier as Cogsworth, Rizwan Manji as LeFou, Jon Jon Briones as Maurice, Leo Abelo Perry as Chip, and Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts.
“The artistry of these live action musical television performances has been incredible because it gives access to people all around the country and around the world to a once in a lifetime concert opportunity,” Josh explained. “That is something we all feel so privileged to be a part of.”
Something else the Grammy-nominated star has been honored to take part in is Josh Cellars’ ‘Joshgiving’ campaign around the holiday season. Josh teamed up with the wine brand to give back to the non-profit, Sing for Hope (SFH). Together, they donated $100,000 and a beautifully restored, specially designed piano to the West LA VA Medical Center in LA that was unveiled by the singer, himself.
“One of the amazing things that I found through my work in artistic philanthropy is just how healing music can be as a form of therapy, as a form of expression. A lot of times there’s a lot of physical healing that needs to be done, but sometimes the emotional and mental healing is something that’s not as noticeable, and that needs to happen,” Josh told HL. “To unveil this this piano that the wonderful organization that we’re supporting, Sing for Hope, has meticulously crafted to bring some beautiful music to this place for a number of veterans who hopefully will find some peace and comfort and music in their lives with it…it’s a great honor to be here, to support our incredible veterans and to do it with this wonderful instrument.”