Theater club to stage ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Mount Carmel School’s Theatre Club is gearing up to stage is biggest and most ambitious production to date, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, with performances set for Friday and Saturday nights, Dec. 22 and 23, at Hotel Nikko Saipan’s Theater Hall. The production will reunite the club with the Guam Territorial Band, which performed with the club in the December 2005 production of Anastasia.

In fact, some theatergoers have referred to Anastasia as a tough act to follow. The show was the most successful in the club’s 10-year history, which brought in over 1,000 audience members over three nights.

Even more challenging is the fact that Beauty and the Beast is currently still running on Broadway, which sets the bar high for both dramatic and technical expectations. The club’s performances will undoubtedly be compared with the Broadway version, which has dazzled audiences for over a decade.

Despite these challenges, though, the show’s producer and club adviser, Galvin Deleon Guerrero, feels confident. “In the club’s 10-year history, we have tackled on some very difficult productions, including Hamlet. But we have succeeded in each case. I feel that after all that experience, we’re ready to take on this production.” Deleon Guerrero added: “I think we’re ready to take island theatre to a whole new level.”

Beauty and the Beast brings together a cast of eager newcomers to theater and several seasoned veterans of the stage. Taking the lead roles of Belle and the Beast are veteran thespians Mayble Ayuyu and John Babauta. New to the Theatre Club is Kristian Aquino, who plays the show’s antagonist, Gaston. His character’s sidekick, Lafou, is also played by a newcomer, Jonah Whitt. Likewise, Cyd Tribiana, a seasoned actor and director, will play Lumiere, alongside newcomers Nicolette Villagomez as Mrs. Potts and Carlos Manalo as Chip. Cyd, however, is working both on and off stage as he is also the production’s business manager and lead publicist.

At the helm as directors are two other veteran thespians, Letitia Cabrera and Ruby Venus. It is rare and sometimes discouraged to have two separate directors, as it can and often does bring conflict and chaos to a production. However, despite the challenges, Letitia and Ruby have worked well together and are very excited about the show. As they put it, “We want it to be a spectacular show where the audience feels the emotions in the play including the passion that the character radiate.”

Beauty and the Beast is based on the 1991 Disney animated feature, the only animated film in history to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1994, Walt Disney Theatrical Productions decided to bring the story to the stage. To complement the Oscar-winning score by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, Menken expanded some of the music, Tim Rice penned new songs, Linda Woolverton adapted the story for stage performance, and Robert Jess Roth directed the show. The result is a theatrical classic that has run on Broadway for over a decade.

The Mount Carmel School production of the show is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Northern Mariana Islands Council for the Humanities, which is, in turn, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Beauty and the Beast is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. Tel: (212) 541-4684. Fax: (212) 397-4684. www.MTIShows.com.

Admission for the show is $5 for all audience members, except for infants. Due to limited seating, advance purchase of tickets is strongly recommended. Tickets will be available at the Mount Carmel School Business Office or from cast and crew members.

For more information on the production, call 234-6184 or visit www.mtcarmel-edu.net. [I][B](PR)[/B][/I]