The classic fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” has been brought to life by students at Poplar Bluff High School.
“This has been the largest undertaking I’ve ever taken on as a director,” said PBHS Language Arts and Drama Instructor, Nick McDaniel.
“We held auditions, we had over 100 audition for the show and we are down to a cast and crew of about 80 or so right now,” said McDaniel, “So it’s the largest group I’ve worked with, and the costumes have been insane.
“The amount of props has also been crazy, we had to build an invention, but everybody’s really put forth their best effort.”
McDaniel said that the school’s art department assisted with the painting and designing of some of the set pieces and the crew was responsible for building flat movers for doors and also painted stairs. “They put in a lot of work, with little recognition,” said McDaniel.
The cast is wearing a combination of handmade and purchased costumes thanks to the assistance of Michelle McDaniel, Nick’s wife and the assistant director of the production.
“My wife was up until midnight last night fixing costumes that were broken,” said McDaniel, “She’s a rockstar.”
The role of Belle is being played by PBHS senior Ella Skillman, who said hearing about how fun theatre was from her friends and classmates encouraged her to become involved. “I was like, it seems like a lot of fun,” said Skillman. “I’ve always wanted to do it. But my tennis schedule didn’t allow me to and this time it just fit perfectly. I really didn’t think I was going to get the part. I was just going to try out for fun and then I ended up getting it, it’s amazing.”
Poplar Bluff Senior Dawson Vaughan, who plays the role of the Beast, said he had an older sister who was in love with Beauty and the Beast, “so I was basically forced to watch that religiously, I kind of grew up with the Beast in my sight all day, so I guess you come full circle at some point in life.”
Vaughan said in the future he intends to further his theater career. “I’m actually planning on attending a musical theater acting school in New York.”
Eleventh grader Alex Keown, who plays the role of Gaston, said he was most excited about performing the death scene, but enjoys every aspect of theatre. “He’s a very fun character, it has been fun to be in rehearsal.”
The role of Cogsworth the clock is played by sophmore Grace Vandewarker. She said she watched the movie again, “and as I’ve gotten older, I’m like, I love that character. It’s just almost relatable.”
Senior Abby Murphy said the cast and crew worked exceptionally hard on everything from the set to costumes and performances. “They really gave 110% for this production.
“I’m very excited about this role. I’ve never got to do it with an accent before and Lumiere has a French accent, so it’s been very fun to play,” said Murphy.
Seventh grader Aiden Brooks, who is playing the role of Chip, said he got his start performing in “Elf: the Musical.”
“It just kind of shot off from there.I started doing more and more of this,” said Brooks, “And I was like, hey, I’m really good at this. When it all comes together, it’s just like a warm hug at the end, it definitely embraces the happily ever after.”
The upcoming perfomances of Beauty and the Beast will be in the Kay Porter Theater at 7 p.m. Jan. 13, 14, 20 and 21. There will also be a Sunday performance at 2 p.m. Jan. 15.