The Pioneer Frontier Magazine

Written by: Jamie Sitzler and Perry Morgan

As the lights in the theater of Annie Hogan Byrd dimmed, the curtain rose for the production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. The seats were filled as the actors and actresses ran through their lines one final time backstage to prepare their audience for a classic. It was a chance for the audience to see some of their favorite childhood Disney characters come to life on stage.

The first act was primarily focused on the village where Gaston, played by Joshua Davis, tries to pursue Belle, played by Emily Lowe. They sang a number called “Me” together which was the proposal song to Belle in Gaston’s attempt to court Belle. Another major part of the first act was when Belle’s father Maurice, played by Wess duBrisk, became lost in the woods over night and ran into the wolves (Ben Sparks, Elizabeth Ruggiero, & Kaylea Ottinger). They sang “Wolves!” and Belle later realizes he was missing and shortly after finds him locked in the dungeon of the Beast’s castle. She willingly makes a deal with the Beast; she will take the place of her father. Afterwards the biggest piece sang was “Be Our Guest”, where about 80 percent of the cast was on stage ranging from small children to adults. It was widely applauded by the audience and the most talked about performance because it was choreographed tremendously.

As intermission rolled around, it grew to be very chaotic as the audience became restless. It became very crowded in the small lobby as the students toiled diligently to work the refreshment stand and to satisfy the children who urged their parents to buy snacks. There was a long line as soon as the doors opened for the restroom. Tusculum student Shantora Wilson commented saying, “I liked the costume setup, the transition of the stage was really neat, and the chorography was excellent. Thinking back to the movie, the play corresponded well with it.”

Greeneville resident, Lauren Colmer, 2004 Tusculum College graduate, brought her daughter, who dressed up as Belle, to see her husband participate in the play as the beast’s chair. Colmer informed me that the actors and actresses put a lot of work into it, and got ready in about six weeks. It definitely paid off. She said that they have a different play every year, depending on what Marilyn duBrisk wants to do.

Another former graduate, B.J. Roberts, played the Baker and worked with the lighting and sound design and also knew Colmer’s husband. “The chair and I went to high school together and I haven’t seen him since 2001” says Roberts. This was his 10^th play with Marilyn duBrisk and it was weird but enjoyable. He thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he got to meet new people and reacquaint with old friends from three or four years ago. There was a lot of work involved; the village guys rehearsed a couple of hours on Thursdays and one hour on Sundays for about eight weeks. “It was good to have students represent” exclaimed Roberts. After the cast rehearsed, he worked on the lighting, which had to be done in the dark “…so it was kind of creepy”. The show made a lot of money, it sold out and Friday the 13^th was the biggest audience.

The actors and actresses rehearsed three times a week, and it took six weeks to put together along with a couple of more weeks to have the finished product. Marilyn duBrisk, director, was thrilled that she had a great group and it was great to know that the Tusculum College students were there to help not only with being part of the play, but to be behind the scenes. “The production was produced by not only Tusculum students, but the community adults, professionals from all over the country, such as North Carolina, and students from 18 different universities,” duBrisk. This shows how much work one small community can work together in just a short amount of time, and it paid off astonishingly.

Director Marilyn duBrisk reherses with The Beast

An upside to the students’ performance not only included the satisfaction of an excellent job well done, but also that students who were in the theater class got a credit for participating and could do it up to eight hour credits. Many students did not show up because they thought that they would have to pay the admission fee to be able to see the play, but they get an Arts & Lecture credit just by swiping their card. The work study students played a huge role in making sure that the set was built and the props were made on time and were ready to use by opening day.

Jabari Bunch, who was behind the scenes as a work study student, explained who some of the characters were, how much hard work and time was invested into producing the set, and just an overall thought of the play. As it being his work study job, he worked with the lighting and colors. He enjoyed his work and was very pleased of how the play and the set turned out. “We started in August. Seven work study students working with Frank, it took about 1100 hours to complete.”

After the curtains came up, Noelle Rankin, student, reminisced the Disney classic. Her expectations were high since she has only seen plays in high school, so she thought it would have glitches since it was the first show on Friday. She also described how accurate the play was compared to the movie and it surprised her. Some resemblances were all of the songs and the music and certain scenes such as when the Beast transformed into a man, how they pulled him up in the air just as the movie. Just the things they went through to make it go above and beyond, you could tell it took a lot of work.” The “’Be Our Guest’ song, the little kids dressed up as napkins and silverware, the adults as the characters and it just made me think back to when I saw it as a child,” said Rankin. Kim Berry and Marilyn duBrisk were the main chorographers who did an excellent job and managing the smaller children since there were so many especially for the “Be Our Guest” piece.

Some images that could not come straight from the movie were the Beast’s wig. It was a brown/grey instead of the mahogany as what you’re used to as a child. Her over all thought about the play was “You can tell that they put a lot of work and effort and that they were having fun. It brought back a lot of memories of watching the Disney movies. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” As the cast bowed for one last time for the night, they received an enormous applause that filled the room as everyone stood and cheered for the great performance.