Stephen Mark Lukas as Gaston – Photo: Evan Zimmerman
“As an actor, you’re never playing a villain, you’re never playing evil,” says Stephen Mark Lukas. “You have to look at what motivates the character’s behavior — and that’s been really fun to explore with this.”
Lukas is part of the touring company of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Musical, starring as the hypermasculine, vainglorious Gaston — a man who feels entitled to Belle, fails to win her affections, and turns menacing when she falls for the Beast.
“Gaston is a product of the time period,” says Lukas. “He’s an absurdly confident man who runs the show in the village. Belle is the first person who stands up to him and doesn’t give him what he wants — the first real obstacle he’s faced. Watching how that triggers him, and how it pushes him to snap by the end, is something we see playing out in the world today. It’s a trajectory people can identify with.”
True to Disney villain form, Gaston doesn’t get what he wants — and meets his match in the Beast. “It’s not a happy ending for him,” Lukas laughs.
Lukas has been with the current tour for ten months, after first playing the role in 2019 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. The production, now at The National Theatre through April 5, “is an updated version for the 30th anniversary,” he says.
“I think this story really connects to people across several generations who grew up with the film, the original Broadway production, and are now enjoying this new version,” says the actor, who has appeared on Broadway as Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl and as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon. “It hasn’t been a challenge to keep it fresh after ten months because we’re always getting different feedback from different audiences — and the reaction to the show has been just absolute joy.”
Lukas knows all the secrets behind Beauty and the Beast’s stage magic — including the Beast’s real-time transformation into a prince — but he won’t divulge them.
“I can’t talk about any illusions, just so you know,” he grins. “It’s Disney magic, baby, just a little bit of pixie dust.”
Lukas says the story of Beauty and the Beast holds particular meaning for him as an out gay man. “At its heart, it’s a story about outcasts and what makes somebody feel at home. Belle is an outcast in her village. The Beast is transformed and chooses to conceal himself from the world…. It’s also a story about redemption and the power of love — how love can transform somebody who is scared or hurting into a close friend. So I think it has a lot of themes that resonate with the gay community.”
Although Lukas performed at the Kennedy Center Opera House during the national tour of Funny Girl, he politely declines to comment on the current controversy surrounding the arts institution. “I won’t say anything except it was such a dream to get to be there back in 2024,” he says. “I hope someday that I’ll be able to perform there again.”
He loves being at The National, however. “It feels like a Broadway house because you’re so close to the audience,” he says. “One challenge of touring a show this big is that you’re often in massive concert halls — they’re gorgeous, but they lose the intimacy of a Broadway house. In most Broadway theaters, you can see the front row, hear the reactions, and even see the balcony. The National is like that, which is really exciting for us.”
For now, Lukas, who has guest-starred on TV hits such as Elsbeth and FBI: Most Wanted, is content to continue playing the insufferable Gaston.
“It’s a role that I’m always finding new things in,” he says. “Comedy is hard — it’s like math. It feels subjective, but it’s actually not. It comes down to timing and precision. It’s a challenge to do it every night in different houses, with different audiences, in spaces that range from 1,500 to 4,000 seats. I would love to play the Beast someday. But for now, I’m content to stay in my Gaston boots.”
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Musical runs through April 5 at The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. For tickets, visit broadwayatthenational.com.
"Creative Cauldron is kind of like an everything bagel," says Matt Conner. "There literally is something there for everybody -- all ages, all incomes. They really, really have a great diverse program."
A locally beloved, non-traditional theater specializing in musicals and cabarets with a strong educational outreach arm, Creative Cauldron has been a foundational perch for Conner for nearly 25 years. The Helen Hayes Award winner currently serves as associate artistic director and, in addition to writing seven musicals with his partner Stephen Gregory Smith for the company, has directed roughly 30 productions.
Every now and then, you spot an unexpected name when scanning the classical music offerings in any given season. Nina Totenberg, say. Or Rick Steves.
Even Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz seems a bit misplaced. On a related note, one of the most anticipated attractions this season is a new adaptation of West Side Story. That's a listing you'd expect to see in stage, but it's here given that it's coming from one of the region's most prominent classical institutions: the Washington National Opera, also the reason you find Schwartz's name here, as a co-host of its upcoming gala.
Pete Docter, Pixar's chief creative officer, has revealed why the studio erased allusions to the title character's LGBTQ identity from the 2025 animated film Elio.
The film follows the title character, a lonely boy who is beamed into outer space by an intergalactic organization after being mistaken for Earth's leader. Pixar had originally hired openly gay director Adrian Molina -- the co-director of the studio’s Oscar-winning 2017 hit Coco -- to helm the film, which he based on his own childhood.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.