The Original Broadway Cast. It stars Terrence Mann as the Beast and Susan Egan as Belle. There are many, many things I like about this recording. First, the orchestrations are wonderful, particularly on "If I Can't Love Her" and the Entr'acte. Those two tracks get played over and over again! I also love the ENTIRE cast...there's not one person on here who doesn't act or sing the role wonderfully! My only complaint would have to be that it's too short! I wish they would have included a bit more of the dialogue. But other than that, I love it!!

The Original Austrian Cast. This CD is almost remarkable in how similar it is to the Broadway recording. I suppose that's the result of Disney insisting on each production of their shows being the same. Anyway, the orchestrations and songs are almost identical, except, of course, that this is in German and has a different cast. :-) Ethan Freeman is a wonderful Beast, Caroline Vasichek is good as Belle, and the rest of the cast is quite good as well. I enjoy it very much!

The Original London Cast. It's always a little difficult to get used to a new recording after you've become so accustomed to a different one, like I have with the Broadway cast of this show. Still, the London cast is fun to listen to, and the performances are really great. It throws me to hear Belle and Lefou, especially, with such strong British accents, but they're still really good. Alisdair Harvey is a good Beast, though I don't really think there's any comparison with Terrence. And it seems to me the orchestrations, which I *love* on the OBC, aren't quite as strong here - I'm not sure why. Anyway, if you already have the Broadway cast and are interested, I say buy it, but if you don't have the Broadway one, get that first!

The Original Australian Cast. I wasn't really terribly interested in getting this recording, until I heard Hugh Jackman in Oklahoma!, and then I knew that I had to get the CD, just to hear his Gaston. :-) And he is really wonderful! But so is the rest of the cast, and I have to say that I probably prefer this recording to the London one overall, but that they both still don't quite live up to the Broadway recording, at least for me. Still, if you're a fan of Hugh, or of Australian theatre in general, it's a good investment!