Speaking to IGN this week, Beauty and the Beast actor Josh Gad spoke of the cast’s recent table read which featured lots of singing from stars like Emma Thompson.

Gad will play Gaston’s sidekick LeFou in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation directed by Bill Condon, and based on this new interview, the actor (best known for voicing Olaf in Disney’s Frozen) is mighty passionate about this project.

“It was one of the most magical things I’ve been a part of,” said Gad of the Beauty and the Beast table read, which Ian McKellen documented in a Facebook post. “Emma Thompson getting up and singing her incredible rendition of the theme song. Just being there in that room and seeing what Bill Condon was dreaming up, it’s going to blow people’s minds. It’s exactly what you want it to be. It’s an amazing tribute, but it’s also creating its own new territory. People are going to flip out.”

Gad compared the adaptation to Cinderella which opened in March to rave reviews. “This does the same thing,” the actor said of being loyal to the original animated movie, “but it’s the first one of these live adaptations that actually utilizes the music which was such a strong component to movies like Beauty and the Beast.

“One of the main reasons I signed on to do it was the opportunity to get to sing and do something like that in a live feature film is something I’ve been looking forward to doing,” he added.

Beauty and the Beast stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as Belle and the Beast. Filming is set to take place this year, but the film won’t be opening in theaters until March 2017.

With every new interview and casting announcement we get more and more excited for this project. The thought of having to wait two years to hear Thompson belt “Tale As Old As Time” is heartbreaking.

Related: Disney completes Beauty and the Beast cast after adding Ewan McGregor as Lumière