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Beauty and the Beast, Jr.
by Niobrara County High School, Lusk, Wyoming
Everyone has to start somewhere, and that is just what the delightful students
of Niobrara County High School did with their production of “Beauty & The
Beast Jr.”. This was the
school’s first-ever musical, and in this small town of about 1,400, just about
the entire town came out to the show.
As pretty much everyone on Planet Earth knows, “Beauty
& The Beast” is a fairy tale based on the story of a beautiful woman kept
in a castle by a monstrous beast. The
simplicity of the story line and spot-on casting made this show an excellent
choice for a first outing.
Director Evan Davies is the music teacher at the school,
and leads the cast to their beginning stage experience. The cast should be very grateful to him by spearheading an
effort to bring theatre to them, allowing them to have an experience sometimes
(unfortunately) reserved for schools in larger areas.
The high school is blessed with a wonderful facility for
theatre- it has a wide stage with plenty of room for a chorus of dancers.
The lighting system could use some added punch, and there were some
lighting issues during the show. The
school boasts a strong music department, and as they grow into more theatre, the
basics of the art will fall into place for them as well.
There were several places in the show were blackouts would have been
effective and some basic knowledge of sets would have helped to carry the
production. All in good time,
though…
Standout performances here were by Jonathan Pischel as
LeFou and Joshua Brackett as Maurice. Andrew
Niziol as Lumiere has a fine singing voice, as does Bailey Bridge as Belle.
Asa Erlewine, who played Beast, showed some real dedication to learning
the craft of theatre and had some of the show’s nicer moments.
Crowd favorites Kaitlyn Pfister & Jayde Swenson as the Silly Girls,
were certainly fun to watch. Ethan Langston played Monsieur D’Arque as well as
assisting with the lighting; best wishes to him as he continues theatre studies
with the great program at Casper College soon.
I encourage the school to continue offering
productions- the students all certainly seemed enthusiastic and interested in
doing more. The little details will
fall into place as the program grows. Sincere
congratulations to director Evan Davis and all of the cast & crew on their
first successful production!
Performed May 12, 2009
Tammy Franklin
National Youth Theatre
~ Cast ~
Narrators: Katie Glendy, Michael Coon, Jayde Swenson
Prince/Beast: Asa Erlewine
Old Woman/Enchantress: Katelynn Miller
Belle: Bailey Bridge
Gaston: Kyle Herder
LeFou: Jonathan Pischel
Silly Girls: Kaitlyn Pfister, Jayde Swenson
Maurice: Joshua Brackett
Cogsworth: Jacob Wasserburger
Lumiere: Andrew Niziol
Babette: Rebecca Lashmett
Mrs Potts: Morgan Hanson
Chip: Breanna Bredthauer
Madame de la Grande Bouche: Danielle Dooper
Monsieur D'Arque: Ethan Langston
Servants: Katelynn Miller, Jayde Swenson, Kaitlyn Pfister, Derek Davies
Villagers: Tiffany Risley, Sara Myer, Jacob
Wasserburger, Joshua Brackett, Andrew Niziol, Katie
Glendy, Morgan Hanson, Breanna Bredthauer, Michael Coon
Chip- Post Transformation: Derek Davies
Directed by Evan Davies
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