ACT Re-Tells Original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Starting Tomorrow

 

by Jonathan Weaver

More than 40 local children and teenagers will be on a regional stage this weekend performing a classic children’s fairytale.

Though it’s not exactly Walt Disney’s interpretation.

Director Casey Velcko said Armstrong Community Theater’s telling of “The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast” this weekend at the Casino Theater in Vandergrift will be equal parts similar but different.

“Disney cleaned up the story a little bit in that it eliminated a lot of the characters – this maintains a lot of ‘Beauty’s’ family,” Casey said. “Everyone thinks ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is about ‘Beauty,’ but what I love about this rendition is I think it’s an equal mix of ‘Beauty’ and the ‘Beast’ – they each have their own emotional development.”

The French narrative continues to tell the tale of a prince (played by Cailin Cornman) cursed to have a beastly appearance (played by Laurie Enders), but audiences see ‘Beauty’ (not ‘Belle’) (played by Velcko’s youngest sister, Tonya) before she sacrifices herself to save her mother, Madam Rondeau and materialistic sisters - Isabel (played by Isabel Valasek, of West Kittanning) and Marguerite (Maddison Evans).

Enders described the Beast as a “very dynamic character.”

“It’s a challenge going from being very angry to calm and sweet. It’s a challenge trying to get that intense feeling and then tone that down when ‘Beauty’ comes,” Enders said.

Casey – who also performed in Armstrong Community Theater children’s shows and is now a music composition major with a minor in entrepreneurship at Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio – has helped with technical aspects in the past, but this weekend’s show will be her directorial debut.

“My first experience with theater was in their show, and I was bitten by the theater bug and never looked back,” Velcko said. “It’s been a really great experience getting to come back and direct because now I have the opportunity to give back to the organization that gave me my start.

“I love children’s theater. It’s just a totally different atmosphere – the kids bring so much joy to everything that they do.”

Enders and Tonya will be two thespians that age out of being in children’s productions after this weekend’s play, but plan to audition for adult musicals.
Tonya and Enders have been friends the past few years – which help their chemistry on-stage. Last summer, the pair also interacted in many scenes during the children’s musical “Robin Hood.”

This weekend will mark Tonya’s ninth stage performance, eight of which have been with Armstrong Community Theater. She credited Casey and older sister, Ally (who is part of the show’s stage crew) with helping her acting development.

“I have grown up going to their practices – sometimes because I needed to be there, sometimes because I was dragged along. (But) them being in (theater) really helped me learn what was acceptable and how to do your best on stage, Tonya said.

“I used to have terrible stage fright when I was really little. Watching how they act so confident helped me overcome my fear and be able to act.”

Tickets for Thursday through Saturday’s performances are $10 each and are available at Quality Inn Royle in West Kittanning, Worthington Community Library and Pomfret’s Paint and Variety Store in Vandergrift, as well as will be available at the door before each performance.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.