By GUILHERME YAZBEK
A tale as old as time is about to take over Pittsburgh. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast arrives in the city in a dazzling new North American tour—the first major U.S. staging of the beloved musical in more than 25 years—bringing spectacle, nostalgia, and Broadway magic to a new generation of audiences. Since its original 1994 premiere, the show has held a singular place in theater history: it not only marked Disney’s bold entry into Broadway but also helped fuel the industry’s 1990s renaissance, transforming Times Square into a global entertainment hub and redefining what commercial musical theater could be. With its iconic Alan Menken score, lavish design, and enduring message about love, transformation, and belonging, Beauty and the Beast continues to enchant audiences around the world.
For Grace Marie Rusnica, this production carries an added layer of meaning—it is, quite literally, a return home. A native of nearby Irwin, Pennsylvania, Rusnica joins the touring cast as an Ensemble performer and understudy for Belle, bringing her journey full circle from a young theater dreamer in Western Pennsylvania to a performer traveling the country with one of Broadway’s most beloved shows. With a background shaped by regional theater, national touring work, and a deep commitment to storytelling through movement and song, she steps into this classic production not only as an artist, but as a local voice now shining on a national stage.
(My interview with Grace Marie that follows was conducted via e-mail.)
onStage Pittsburgh: Returning to Pittsburgh to perform as part of the touring production of Beauty and the Beast, does this city feel different to you now than it did when you were first imagining a life in the theatre?
Grace Marie Rusnica: Returning to Pittsburgh on tour with Beauty and the Beast feels like such a full circle moment. Touring has taught me how important it is to share this story with the country, and getting to share it with Pittsburgh is so special.
oSP: Can you trace any part of your artistic formation back to experiences you had growing up in or around this area—whether mentors, institutions, or early encounters with theatre—that still resonate with you today?
GMR: The first musical I ever saw was Annie at the Benedum Center. That moment forever changed my life and led me to be performing on the same stage 17 years later!
oSP: What has it been like to step into Beauty and the Beast at this moment in your career, and how does this production connect with the kind of work you’re interested in doing as an artist today?
GMR: Performing Beauty and the Beast across the country has been incredibly fun and rewarding. It feels like exactly the kind of work I wanted to do after graduating. Disney shows have the power to share magic and bring people together, and I feel so lucky to be a part of something that inspires hope.
oSP: Beauty and the Beast is part of a Broadway tradition that values consistency and replication—productions that look and feel nearly identical from city to city. As a performer, how do you experience this tension between the musical’s industrial logic of sameness and your own desire for artistic agency, experimentation, or personal interpretation within the work?
Doing the same show every day can be challenging, but I always tell people that it’s NEVER the same show. Our incredible cast does an amazing job at keeping the show fresh and finding new moments together. It’s challenging, but I can say with confidence that there is never a dull moment.
oSP: Knowing that Beauty and the Beast often functions as a first encounter with musical theatre for many spectators, how do you think about your responsibility as a performer in shaping that initial experience of live theatre?
MGR: One of the most special parts of doing this show is seeing how excited audience members are to see Beauty and the Beast. Women and girls of all ages dressed like Belle, couples dressed to the nines, a family excitedly buying merchandise to remember their time seeing the show. It is often that I meet someone afterwards who has never seen a musical before, and it reminds me of how special my job is when they tell me how much they enjoyed it.
oSP: What kinds of affect, curiosity, or sense of possibility do you hope the production opens up for audiences in Pittsburgh?
GMR: I am hoping that Pittsburgh audiences receive all of the beauty, kindness, and hope that the show inspires. Theater offers a magical escape from the real world, and I hope that audiences forget their troubles and appreciate the magic.
oSP: Thank you, Grace Marie.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is at the Benedum Center from February 24 – March 1st, 2026, as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trusts’ PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series. For tickets visit: https://trustarts.org/production/100466/disneys-beauty-and-the-beast
Guilherme Yazbek is a Brazilian theater practitioner and scholar, currently pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. www.guilhermeyazbek.com
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories
She does an awesome job. I’ve seen her before I just love her performance.