Working behind the scenes of Beauty and the Beast

Working behind the scenes of Beauty and the Beast

By Laura Marosi and Nora Lakatos

Working behind the scenes of Beauty and the beast was such an exhilarating thrill, it felt as if we were entering a whole new world of fantasy.

- I really enjoyed everyone singing backstage to all the songs that we weren't in during the performance, including me!

-Marcell Virany fontan (y8)

I enjoyed practicing and performing the dance to the mob song because I really enjoyed the dance and my costume.

-Matei Gorgan (y8)

Auditions

Preparing to audition for Beauty and the Beast was nerve-racking. The vivid memory of everyone practicing the song and the script in order to perform the best they could during auditions really showed how devoted they were to this musical. I am sure the choice of cast was a really difficult decision for Miss James and Miss Brown to make, due to there being an immense number of talented people auditioning. After the auditions had occurred, no one could keep their excitement contained. Everyone was waiting for Thursday, due to the list being announced that day of who got selected. Once Thursday came, we were on the edge of our seats all day. We kept wondering whether or not we would get in, and if we did what roles we would be granted. Once the time came and it was the end of the day, we were both shocked yet thrilled to find out we were given enlisted in a role and could not wait for rehearsals to begin.

Getting to know new people

A lot of new people were present, however, people from earlier musicals also returned. Throughout rehearsals, we had the opportunity to meet new people and got the chance to build a community that resembled a family. Whenever someone forgot their script or missed a step during one of the dances, our newfound friends managed to help them out and create a safe environment where we were able to make as many mistakes as we could without the fear of being judged.

Rehearsals

The first two rehearsals were us reading through our scripts to gain a vague idea of the storyline. After each of us settled down at a table, we began reading our lines and the story had commenced. Waiting for the actual rehearsals to start took a while, but after pushing through we started learning the dances, the lyrics to the music and our lines. Saying it was always easy to learn the moves and lines is an understatement, especially after a long school day it was not always easy, but it was always enjoyable. Working together and getting the most out of everything was fun, but it took a lot of work to be able to push ourselves to do the best we could. There were lots of bumps along the way and there were times when we had pushed our limits, but the result was priceless, and we g much closer and throughout this process we created a stronger bond together and with the rest of the cast.

After a while, time was ticking, and it was soon time to perform in front of a huge crowd. Due to the pressure, Miss James provided us with pizza when we were working on the weekends. When it was time for dress rehearsals, we had to make sure our mics were secure and our props were intact, since we did not want to walk onto stage and lose a shoe while dancing our heart out. That totally did not happen. When it was finally the big day, Miss James was generous enough to hand out free donuts for the entire cast as a reward for working hard and to give us energy before the big show. After discussing with many of our cast members, we came to the conclusion that the donuts were the only thing we were there for. We are only joking, even though the entire process from going to rehearsal to rehearsal sometimes may be tiring sometimes when you are at the finish line you recognize why you put so much dedication it is because you genuinely love what you doing and enjoy every second of it. The performance

We would have never thought that I would have enjoyed the process of this play so much, but we did. It was such a captivating experience and we both created a remarkably close bond with each other. This experience opened our eyes to performing arts and we discovered how passionate we truly are towards acting. I think singing backstage was fun and hyping each other up, even if it was sometimes chaotic, finding the props and double checking our lines. In the end, everyone hyped each other up and recited jokes to the point that we were almost crying of laughter. Performing was special as well because we worked hard and had been preparing for this for such a long time. It was worth it, since in the end we learnt so much from the play and from the process of creating it. Being out on stage brought us so much joy, especially knowing how much time and commitment we put into the process to get to this stage.

The opportunity to work as a part of this cast was an experience that provided us with memories which will last a lifetime. It was full of adventure, entertainment, excitement but most of all a wonderful way to bond with friends and to meet new people. So, if anyone is a theater lover or is interested in this, you should audition for the upcoming musicals. Who knows what the future holds?