The MFA is hosting an interactive ‘Beauty and the Beast’-themed exhibit
Following the March 17 release of the live-action Beauty and the Beast film, the Museum of Fine Arts is inviting the public to be their guest at an interactive Beauty and the Beast-themed event in April.
“This was something that we wanted to kind of plan in connection with the movie coming out,” said Justina Crawford, the MFA’s manager of lectures, courses, and concerts.
The program, titled “Be Our Guest … At the MFA,” is the latest in a series of “remix” programs the museum has created to provide a fresh perspective on the museum’s art, Crawford said. A similar program about the hit Broadway musical Hamilton sold out in October, causing the museum to add another in February, which also sold out, she said.
The remix programs have helped the museum connect with younger audiences, such as college students and young professionals, Crawford said.
The programs are also designed to keep visitors moving, exposing them to multiple galleries within the museum, she said.
“We will be selecting four to five objects from throughout the collections in the museum that connect to the themes found in Beauty and the Beast,” Crawford said.
Specific works that will take the spotlight during the program include an oil-on-canvas piece by French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir called “Dance at Bougival” (1883), a nod to the movie’s iconic waltz scene between Belle and the Beast, and a layered mirror created by American artist Fred Wilson called “Iago’s Mirror” (2009), chosen because the movie includes a magic mirror.
“There’s also going to be talk about enchanted household items,” Crawford said, explaining that participants will be led to a table setting in Gallery 142.
Crawford was tight-lipped about any additional details regarding the 90-minute MFA program, which her colleagues have been planning for months.
“We don’t want to give away all of the Disney magic, I guess you could say,” she said.
But she did add that the tour will feature a pop-up performance. During the Hamilton program, local actors read actual letters sent between Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Angelica Schuyler, and an MFA staff member performed his own rendition of the musical’s number, altering the lyrics and playing the ukulele.
The program will take place on April 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and costs $10 for members and $12 for non-members. Fifty tickets are being sold for the event, and they can be purchased here.
Can’t make it on the 27th? Stay tuned for the museum’s next remix program about Star Wars, which will take place on May 4 — National Star Wars Day.
465 Huntington Ave.; Boston; mfa.org
