Childhood favorite ‘Beauty and the Beast’ takes stage at TRC

The classic story of “Beauty and the Beast,” which has formed childhood memories over the years, is coming to the Tinnin Fine Arts Center stage with the first show scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.

Two of those who have been impacted by the story are show stars Emilia Morton and Christopher Gonzalez, who will take the stage as Belle and Beast.

For Morton, when she first saw the Disney rendition of the story growing up she was initially scared of it. However, when she returned to the film when she was slightly older — about 12 years old — she fell in love with the story.

Lumiere, played by Felix Torres, sings to Belle, played by Emilia Morton. Photo provided

“I cried at the end of it,” she said. “I completely fell in love with it. I watched it hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. I watched it so many times I wore out the VHS … I loved the story so much. I kind of just thought I’d audition on a whim.”

The play is put on by Center Stage, the blended theater company at Three Rivers College, made up of students, college employees and community members.

When the chance to audition came up, Morton couldn’t resist, despite having no previous experience on the stage. She didn’t live on campus at the time and after being cast, started driving two hours, three days a week for rehearsal.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez regularly heard the “Beauty and the Beast” movie from the other room while his four kids watched it. When the family found out about auditions, his wife said she wanted to be a part of it and they ended up auditioning along with one of their daughters.

“I’m a music person, so I was like ‘alright, this is how you get ready for an audition,’” he said. “I taught my daughter how to get ready for an audition, how to have a practice schedule and then come in and actually do it. I came out and sang ‘Evermore’ from the movie. I know it’s not going to be in the play. I love performing.”

During his time as a musician, Gonzalez has performed on the Tinnin stage multiple times, but prior to this show, he didn’t have very much stage acting experience.

When talking asked about figuring out their chemistry on stage, both couldn’t stop laughing as Morton told the story of the first time they practiced the ballroom dance scene that’s about midway through the production.

She said the first few rehearsals were awkward because Gonzalez is older than her and his wife is part of the ensemble. During one of those early rehearsals, they were practicing their dance.

“I’m not going to lie, I sweat,” she said. “I get sweaty, OK.”

“We both sweat,” Gonzalez interrupted. “We were dancing.”

“We were dancing,” Morton continued. “It just happened to be that one time his arm accidentally slipped into my armpit and from then on we were BFFs. It was an ‘OK, we’re friends now.’”

Gonzalez has told the story several times since it happened.

The two agreed their favorite scene to do is their ballroom dance.

“That’s like the home run hit,” Gonzalez said. “If you nail this part, the rest of it doesn’t even matter because everybody’s going to remember that part.”

The cast has been rehearsing Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for three hours each night. Gonzalez, who’s daughter Skylar is also in the show, said it has taken some physical impacts.

“Normally, she’s already in bed by 9 o’clock,” he said. “I don’t sleep anyway when I get home, so it hasn’t affected my sleep schedule. I may be a little sore. I may take a fall or a kick (during the fight scene) … I really can’t even complain about those because those are just things that happen.”

Both agreed the work and time they’ve put into the show has all been worth it.

“I want to do so good for the story because I love the story,” Morton said. “I just want to do really, really good, so there’s some pressure, but I’m loving every minute of it … I will put in all the work it needs.”

Show times:

Friday, Sept. 6: 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 7: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 8: 2 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 13: 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 14: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 15: 2 p.m.

Ticket Price: $10.

The Tinnin center is located on the TRC campus.

Tickets can be purchased online at tinnin.ticketleap.com, by contacting the theater or at the door.