Live theatre celebrated a successful return to Warman High School (WHS) with the student drama club’s performance of the musical, Beauty and the Beast Jr., December 1 to 4.
WHS stage musical brings traditional fairy tale to life
A group of 65 students were involved in the process under the direction of Monika MacKenzie and Tennille Fishley.
With the interest shown, two separate casts were created to give everyone a chance to perform.
And perform they did; singing, dancing and displaying the wide range of emotions that the story requires.
The sense of accomplishment at the great team effort was evident at the end of the performance.
The French fairy tale, originally was written in 1740, has been revised and translated into different languages over the years. The junior version is an adaptation of the successful stage musical, which was based on the Oscar award winning 1991 Disney animated film.
The story is of Belle, a young woman from a village, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. For the spell to be lifted the Beast must learn to love and be loved.
Belle becomes trapped in the Beast’s castle as part of an arrangement to free her father from the castle’s dungeon.
The result is two very different people eventually finding love.
The story is timeless. Its moral of not judging or acting on appearances only, and the power of love and compassion, is as important today as it was centuries ago.
The production was aided by impressive sets, with a village and a castle that included a main set, an east wing, a west wing and dungeon.
The sets were created by Mr. Holtsman and his industrial arts students, with many props donated by the Fireside Singers.
The cast also benefited from costumes obtained from the Scared Scriptless Players. Kevin Shiach provided several pieces of sound equipment and provided assistance with sound. Bo Doak video recorded performances.
Live arts and performances have been really affected by the pandemic. In her introduction MacKenzie explained the apprehension she felt in not knowing if students would still be interested in the performing arts. To the director’s delight, the interest was double the pre-pandemic total.
The crew did an amazing job in presenting this classic and will have a lasting memory of the excellent production they achieved.