A Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Beast’

Imagine the hirsute leading man in “Beauty and the Beast” as rock ‘n’ roll god.

Designer Ann Hould-Ward did to create costumes for the critically acclaimedDisney Broadway musical. “There’s the waistline of his pants that hits at the hips, the codpiece, and all that hair,” said the Tony Award-winning costume designer.

Hould-Ward was on hand last week at the Walt Disney Gallery in MainPlace/Santa Ana to meet several hundred fans and to speak about the costumes she has designed.

Prosthetics, pyrotechnics and Vacuformed plastic (vinyl and Mylar) were among the materials Hould-Ward and her team used to dress the animated characters brought to life for the stage.

“Good design is how it functions with the human body. Whether it’s fashion design or costume design, it’s about functionality, line, color,” she said.

One admirer, Forrest Beatson, drove from San Diego to meet Hould-Ward. “The costumes are so incredible,” said the 23-year-old, who has seen the stage production several times and is an avid collector of anything “B&B.;”

“The costumes are more marvelous than the ones in the [animated] movie because they are real. They could have made them so basic, but instead they’re so intricate. She’s marvelous,” he said.

Beatson bought a limited edition lithograph of Hould-Ward’s costume design of Lumiere, the chatty candle, which he asked her to sign.

The gallery, which also stocks jewelry and designer art, offered Hould-Ward’s original watercolor sketches, line drawing and works-in-progress collages, as well as animation art from the film.