The Rexburg Community Theatre (RCT) is pleased to announce their production of “Beauty and the Beast” starting tomorrow evening. The performances will be on June 21 and 24 at 7 p.m. and the 22 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Anne Cluff, president of RCT and director of “Beauty and the Beast” told BYU-Idaho Radio she enjoys directing because she gets to see all the talent in the community. It is a lot of work, but she loves seeing cast members become a theatre family by the end of their performances.
Cluff has volunteered for eight years directing plays for RCT. Some of the plays she has directed in the past include “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “The Music Man,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “A Christmas Carol” and many more.
“We try to pick musicals and productions that are very family friendly cause that’s are goal, we want to be able to expose the community and their families to the performing arts and live theatre and we want it to be appropriate,” she said.
The lead characters of “Beauty and the Beast” are Sadie Steel, Dan Scherbel and Evan Dunn.
Steel is a mom of four and has loved her experience playing the role of Belle. She and her husband both participated in theatre while living in Salt Lake City, so she decided to embrace this opportunity after moving to Rexburg.
She said it’s been interesting going from being a mom in the day to being a princess on stage at night.
“It’s been a challenge but it’s been so much fun for me,” she said. “I’ve just had a ton of support and it’s been a fun character to play.”
Scherbel, a math teacher at Madison High School, is playing the role of Gaston. His family has always been involved with music, so he decided to try out and ended up getting this part.
“It feels like anything is really possible or permissible with Gaston,” he said. “I have a lot of fun with it.”
Dunn is a vocal professor at BYU-Idaho. He originally tried out for Gaston, but landed the role as the Beast. He has been impressed with the community theatre and has learned a lot.
“It’s fun to play a character that changes a lot throughout the show, because you have to find the moments where your character is shifting…and you have to show that in the way that you’re acting and in your voice and in your mannerisms,” he said. To attend the production, order tickets online at https://www.onthestage.com/show/rexburg-community-theatre/rct-presents-disneys-beauty-and-the-beast-2074/tickets, or wait to buy tickets at the door. But, if you wait, you run the risk of not getting a ticket because seats sell out quickly.
Cluff encourages people to order tickets if they want to see the production.
“Come support your community, because it’s your community that has created this, it really is,” Steel said. “The efforts are just unreal. Come see it!”