Every year the Seminole High School Theater Company, known as SHSTC, presents to audiences a fall performance followed by a spring performance. During the weekend of April 13-15, 2012, to end the 2011-2012 school year, SHSTC was honored to present their spring production of Beauty and the Beast.
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film of which this play is based on is from the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.
The play centers around a prince who is transformed into a beast and a young woman named Belle whom he imprisons in his castle. To become a prince again, Beast must love Belle and win her love in return, or he will remain a beast forever.
On April 13th, the opening night of the show, the KWC Auditorium that holds up to 865 people was completely sold out. According to junior Anisha Nazrul, “We had to turn away 40 people. The line of people at the door went from the auditorium lobby all the way to the science building.”
The overwhelming success of the play can be attributed to all the dedicated and hardworking members of Seminole High School’s Performing Arts department.
Freshman Kody Cooper described the production of the play as “something like a sports team. Regardless of if you’re on stage or behind the scenes, every part is important and is crucial for bringing the whole play together. Our plays are almost entirely student produced and we count on every person to do their part.”
Preparation for this play did not prove to be a stress-free feat. Director, producer, and overseer of the drama department Mrs. Tiffany Ortiz and her students spent several months of rehearsals and pulling together to create the final masterpiece. Sophomore Walker Spivey described the experience as “a lot of blood sweat and tears, but worth it in the end. After a show, you are the happiest person ever.”
This year, a 24 hour “lock-in” was utilized to complete set construction. Junior Erika Love, art director, said, “A lot more people showed up to help on this play so we had a lot of people to help out. We had so much to do because this production was so huge, but we had so many people that we were able to pull it off. We had people spend the night in the auditorium and finish the construction of the set.”
Over the course of three consecutive days, the cast and crew delivered performances full of humor and whimsy for SHS audiences. Junior Taylor Simonds, who starred as Belle, said, “I’ve wanted to be Belle since I was 3 years old. I’ve been getting ready for the role ever since I heard we were doing Beauty and the Beast for our spring play. I memorized the movie, sang all the songs, and even walked around school on my toes, much like Belle does around the village.”
Junior Logan Schulman, who starred as the brawny Gaston, said, “My experience was very enlightening and exciting. It’s very much different than how I am as a person. Acting as a villain was definitely different that I used to do.”
Sophomore Melina Martinez, who starred as Chip, described the character as “a fun, cute character. He is very stress-relieving in the midst of the drama of the play. He’s a memorable character and proves to be comedic relief.”
The play, of course, could not be pulled together without the help of those backstage. Sophomore lighting director Collin Masters said, “I’ve never tried to act on stage. I’ve worked on Romeo and Juliet as well as Abandon All Hope. Working backstage is still definitely a worthwhile experience.”
Junior sound assistant Krisada Eaton said, “I work up in the box of the auditorium. Working on the play is always challenging and stressful. This was a larger scale production than usual, but hearing the applause at the end always makes it worth it.”
As the theater family grew closer together throughout the production, many cast and crew members described the experience as incredibly heartwarming. Spring plays are especially emotional because it is the departing senior’s last play. Junior Nick Swann said, “On Sunday, our last show, there were metric tons of people of people crying. Makeup artists were told to be ready to touch up anything that got smudged because of tears.”
The theater family has grown throughout the challenges of the production, but it has truly been a successful and worthwhile movement. The reviews are in, and Seminole High School’s Performing Arts department has delivered a truly magical show.