A community theater I do some sound work for did B&B a few years ago and were able to rent the rigging they needed for fark less than $5k. Granted it wasn't a Foy job, he didn't go zinging off across the space. He started out in a heap on top of an elevated set piece, clipped himself in under the cloak and peeled his mask off while we did a bunch of stuff with
smoke and lights. When the time came, he got hoisted about four feet, flipped over once,
shed the cloak and landed on his feet.
It looked like more than it was because we played up his flight with a bunch of tricks. During the "transformation" the whole
stage slowly faded into near darkness, with just Belle in a spot. Some
haze, flashing colors, strobes and sound effects got the audience's attention away. And when the Beast finally did his flip, he was caught in a sudden burst of side light, which as anyone who lights dance will tell you, gives a certain floating
effect. Land on two feet,
boom boom, lights back up, and you look like wizzards!