Scott Aspell (left) is playing the Beast and Hannah Shiels is Belle, the beauty, in an upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast by the Osoyoos Secondary School Drama Club. In the background, students and parents work on painting sets for the show. (Richard McGuire photo)
Students from the Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) drama club were busy on Sunday constructing sets and working on costumes for their coming production of Beauty and the Beast.
A handful of parents also pitched in as they projected images onto large panels, traced the outlines and then painted them in at the OSS Community Theatre.
The show will be presented March 10, 11 and 12, but the students have been planning it since September, and rehearsing since October, along with teacher Sarah Gilchirst, who is in charge of the drama club.
“We’re really hoping the community will come out and support this show,” said Gilchrist. “What a great way to celebrate the school being open, to see a nice show like this on the stage.”
Beauty and the Beast is a musical adapted from the 1991 animated Disney film.
“This is the junior version, so it’s not the full version of the musical,” said Gilchrist. “There’s a company that does [scripts for] junior versions for smaller casts or younger performers, so this one is only about an hour running time.”
It will be true musical theatre with the student actors singing and dancing their scenes, along with fast set changes and spoken lines.
“It’s going to be a great show, I think,” said Gilchrist. “People have been working really hard on it.”
The audience will recognize songs from the Disney film: ‘Be Our Guest,’ ‘Belle’ and ‘Gaston,’ among others.
Some songs are solos and some are group numbers. Gilchrist has been working with the students on their vocal skills.
The role of Belle, the beauty, is played by Hannah Shiels and the Beast is played by Scott Aspell.
Both auditioned for their parts back in October.
For Shiels, in Grade 12, this isn’t the first time she’s played a leading role. When she was in Grade 8, she played Grace Farrell in a Dance Oasis production of Annie. Then, in Grade 9, she played Alice in Alice in Wonderland.
Shiels has participated in several community events to promote the play, including appearing in costume at Osoyoos Credit Union during Trick or Treat Mainstreet.
Aspell, in Grade 11, said he’s looking forward to playing the Beast.
“I’m pretty proud,” he said. “I like it that as the Beast you feel pretty hairy, pretty ugly, but the character changes and you turn out to be a decent person in the end.”
The story takes place in a small French village where Belle lives. She’s more introspective and doesn’t fit in with others.
When her father gets lost in the woods and is captured by the Beast, Belle ultimately must agree to take his place in order to free him.
But the Beast is not really as he appears and a love story ensues.
Gilchrist said there are more than 30 students in the club. About 25 appear in the cast and others are working behind the scenes.
The club, she said, is engaging in a number of fundraisers because it is expensive to put on a production like this.
“I had saved some money doing shows and some fundraising with the group over a few years,” she said. “But because we thought the school was closing last year, we gave away all the money in scholarships for outgoing students. So when we started in September after we found that we were staying open, my account was at zero.”
Among the fundraisers is an Academy Awards Oscar party at the Sage Pub on Feb. 26 starting at 4 p.m. That event is being organized by a couple of mothers of students and participants will be able to watch the Academy Awards on a large screen.
Tickets for Beauty and the Beast are $10 and can be purchased from the OSS office, Imperial Office Pro on Main Street or from drama club members.
“We’re hoping to pre-sell as many tickets as we can,” said Gilchrist. “There may be tickets at the door or maybe not.”
There are evening shows starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11 and there’s a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee on March 12.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Emma Fernandes (left) plays Lumiere and Hannah Shiels plays Belle in the Osoyoos Secondary School Drama Club’s upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast. Shown here, the two cut materials for costumes. (Richard McGuire photo)
