Beauty and the Beast: Behind the Scenes

As the new play by the theater production group comes out, interviews with some of the people involved will answer some questions about their new play, Beauty and the Beast. Naturally, it starts with the director, Mrs. Frost.

Q: How are you expecting the opening night to be?
A: I think opening night is going to be amazing. I think we’re going to have a sold-out crowd, and it’s going to be a fabulous, fabulous show.

Q: What would the crew be composed of?
A: So, we’re have people working backstage moving the sets around, helping with props, helping with costumes, helping with lighting and microphones and spotlights, and then also people in
charge called stage managers that are calling all the cues so that everybody knows when they’re supposed to do their job.

Q: For the cast of the play, what grades were they composed of?
A: So, we have eighty-six high school students- ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders And then we also have thirty-four students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade coming in to be in three
different numbers in the show.

Q: Will there be any singing in the play?
A: Oh yes, there are lots of songs; most of the show is singing and dancing.

Q: If you’d like to say something to all the students outside there, what would you like to say about the play?
A: I think that everybody will enjoy coming seeing “Beauty and the Beast.” I think they should bring their family members and make it a whole family affair and I think they will love this show
because it’s going to be a really exciting production.

Interview with Cast Member Ayo Banjo

Q: What character are you playing as?

A: I am playing Beast.

Q: How are you planning to represent your character?

A: Well, it’s kind of hard, because Beast is completely different from who I actually am. And I know that’s considered acting, but it’s different playing a role like you’re on the outside. Like you’re not confident in yourself, that you’re insecure–and of course everyone is insecure– and I have to reach inside of me and create another character that sort of symbolizes that insecurity. So I would usually… I’d watch the actual cartoon, then I’d watch the Broadway version, and then I’d watch the cartoon again, and then Broadway version. I watched the Broadway version about four times, and the cartoon six times and that’s to see his character and really be able to see where he’s coming from. I interpret Beast different from than how other people interpret Beast. So I have to start creating my own interpretation of who he is and what I want to portray in that character.

Q: Are you similar to your character?

A: No, I’m not so much. When I played Sebastian last year, he was very loud and talkative and outgoing, that’s kind of who I am. But Beast is completely different because he’s more of an introverted person and that personality, that characteristic, is not who I am so I have to kind of combat that.

Q: What is the hardest part of acting out your character?

A: The hardest part is to make sure the character isn’t cheesy and stays genuine in people’s feelings, you know? That would be the first part, and the second part would be to kind of bring that insecurity out of myself and reflect that on the audience and make sure they see past Ayo and start seeing into the character.

Q: What are you guys incorporating into the production that’s innovative or different?

A: I know we’re definitely spending more money on this show because we have a lot of things we have to do, especially the transformation from Beast into Prince, which we have yet to figure out how that’s going to happen. So, we’re still trying to get that settled. and I know we’re having a lot of effects and a lot of background music, we have professionals coming in for this show for singing and we have our choreographer Vincent “del” Hicks whom I love. We have him choreographing all of our dances and stuff like that and he was here for previous shows and we have him again. We also have two workers from Young Americans who came to help us so we’re really preparing.

Q: Which part of theater do you believe should have more recognition than they usually have? 

A: I think a definite part would be our techies and those are the people who are running back and forth to the classroom, the theater room. They work so hard and they’re so amazing and we wouldn’t have a show without them. The techies run all the cues on when to open the scrim and when to close the scrim, when to play music and they do a lot of things. They communicate with all of us. I just think they should be definitely recognized.

Q: Do the cast members have any routines or customs before or after practice?

A: So before rehearsals we all warm up together and usually listen to Bang Bang by Jessie J. Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj and we warm up to that because we’re about to have a three hour dance rehearsal. After rehearsals on Tuesdays we usually go to Taco Del Rio for one dollar tacos and that is our life.