Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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| Jim Ballard and Samantha Driver will star in "Beauty and the Beast." |
This year’s production, directed by John Rushton, will run for six days and includes a cast of 80.
Rushton said “Beauty and the Beast,” which is still on Broadway, has only been available for groups such as WSCT to put on for about a year.
“We wanted to put something on during the summer that was a big family hit,” Rushton said.
Rushton’s assistant, Melissa Peller, said the play is extremely similar to the Disney movie.
“Every child knows the movie and all the songs and how Belle looks,” Peller said. “It was important to stay very close to this. This is one of the reasons we have professional costumes coming from a theater company who is licensed by Disney.”
Rushton did not stop at a family favorite and realistic costumes for this summer’s production. He has rolled out the red carpet in style, complete with a Broadway actor and a recent N.C. School of the Arts graduate.
New York Actor’s Equity Guest Artist Jim Ballard will play the role of Gaston. Ballard, who has been touring for the past three years, knows Rushton and considers him a mentor.
“John cast me as the lead in a play when I was a senior at Greensboro College,” Ballard said. “I did the production and many more with him and he became a mentor, a big brother and a great friend to me.”
Ballard, who admitted he is a country-boy at heart, said Lewisville is a refreshing change from New York.
“Getting to work with John and all the people he tells me about is wonderful,” Ballard said. “It’s so nice to enjoy a show for once without having to worry about the politics that come up in professional theater.”
Samantha Driver, 22, recently graduated from the NCSA and will play Belle in the production. Driver graduated with a BA in vocal performance and opera.
“This is a really great experience for me,” Driver said. “I get to come off the opera stage and apply what I know to musical theater. Learning how to sing different things is the greatest challenge and greatest joy of this experience, next of course to getting to be Belle and live out every little girls dream.”
The set, which also looks like something out of a little girl’s dream, has been built by the cast and crew who are all volunteers.
“The youngest in the play is five and the ages range up to the late 60s,” Peller said. “They have all been out here to help in some way or another.”
The stage, which is located in the Shallowford Square gazebo, has been substantially built out and up.
In addition to the impressive set, the sound and lighting will be professionally done and Joy Rushton, musical director, has an entire volunteer orchestra to help bring the enchanted play to life.
Rushton expects to fill up Shallowford Square all six nights the production is on stage.
“We put on a really great free performance and often it turns into a situation where a family will come one night and then the parents will come back another night, leaving the kids home with a babysitter,” Rushton said. “We also get people who come with different groups on different nights and sometimes people come for the first act one night and the second another night.”
Carol McConnell will play Mrs. Potts in her first WSCT production.
“I work at the West Forsyth YMCA and I saw an advertisement for auditions,” she said. “I finally got up the nerve to come and audition and here I am.”
McConnell said the cast and crew is like a family.
“Everyone is so supportive and encouraging. I can’t say how much that means,” she said.
Peller said that some people come to auditions and sing “Happy Birthday” and some sing big league stuff.
“John and Joy always say ‘Just have fun!’” she said. “No matter what, we always have an extremely professional production.”
Due to the scale and cost of “Beauty and the Beast,” WSCT will host two fundraisers.
An “Enchanted Tea with Belle” will be held on Saturday, June 24 and July 1 at Casanova’s Coffees and Fudge at 1 p.m. Admission is $8 per person.
A pizza party with the cast will be held at Ciccione’s on Thursday June 22 and June 29 at 1 p.m. Gaston, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and others will attend. Admission is $10 per person.
Both events are by reservation only and space is limited. Reservations can be made by calling the civic theater at 945-6209.
Performance dates are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 23, 24 and 25 and June 30, July 1 and July 2. All shows begin at 8 p.m. in Shallowford Square.
Admission is free and audience members are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets and arrive early.