On Monday night, the cast and crew of the Oxford Peak Arts Council and Malad high School Drama Club’s production of the musical “Beauty and the Beast” held their first dress rehearsal in advance of the show’s opening engagement on Thursday, February 29 at 7:00 p.m.  The show will run from the 29th through the next two weekends.  Performances will take place on March 1, 2, 4, 7, 9 and 11.  Saturday March 9 will feature both a 2:00 p.m. matinee in addition to the regular 7:00 p.m. performance.  Tickets are $14, with group rates of $12 for groups of 10 or more, and $12 for seniors and members of the military.

A dress rehearsal has the unique effect of being both a nerve-wracking plunge into the deep end of the full production while also providing something of a safety net that will ultimately be pulled away before the first performance. 

The purpose of a dress rehearsal, of course, is to nail down all the disparate elements of the performance into a cohesive whole.  The memorization and acting elements of the play are just the tip of the iceberg of the components that need to be stress-tested during the rehearsal.  Beyond them, the evening’s run time is devoted to the timing and interplay of the technical elements of staging the play.  As the dress rehearsal went on, scenes were frequently redone in order to try various combinations of sound equipment, audio levels, lighting selections and cues, and pre-recorded track timing. 

The light, sound, and stage elements were handled by Madison Alvarez, Ada Campbell, Jade Charles, Mordecai Charles, Jenetta Jacaway, Kala Layton, Jeff Richins, Ella Sperry, Jenny Sperry, Elyzabeth Teeples, Alivia Waldron, and Connor Worrell.  “Staging” is the catch all term used to cover the “mise en scene” or visual appearance of the play.  Staging includes everything from props and costumes, to set design, lighting and sound, and other elemets that help define the look of the play.

As the actors refined their performances on stage, the conversation behind the scenes between the technical crew were just as busy as they discussed staging choices.  The crew tried out different microphone setups, level combinations, lighting choices, and so on.  Several times the back of the theater crew asked the actors to reposition themselves on stage in order to achieve better spotlighting or clarify a microphone pickup.  

Beyond technical issues of appearance, the directors of the play, Chalae and David Teeples, also used the dress rehearsal as a way to block the movement on stage with a full cast to work with and around.  “Blocking” is a dramatic term for the relative position and movement of the actors throughout the scene, and this particular play presents a few unique blocking and staging challenges.

One challenge stems from the fact that the musical itself is based on an animated film.  While the human characters are relatively straightforward in their depictions, the Beast himself requires costuming to get his nature across.  Chip, the young teacup, is another challenge.  Most of the main staff characters were lightly costumed in ways that made it clear what objects they were in the forms of (a candlestick, clock, featherduster, etc), but the dresser (Madame De La Grande Bouche) required a full, restrictive costume.  Chip, played in this case by Sarah Beylor, was initially introduced into the play as a moving teacup-shaped head on a mobile cart covered with a sheet.  After the character is established, Chip becomes a costumed character who retains the teacup hat, but is able to fully move and dance in the larger group scenes.

Another challenge in the play is exactly the foregoing, the number of large song and dance numbers involving many cast members on stage at once.  This goes hand in hand with the majority of people’s familiarity with the play and its various numbers.  Scenes like the rowdy pub-based “Gaston” and the indelible “Be Our Guest” are fixtures of pop culture, and even in the early dress rehearsal stages, the cast and crew have done a very good job of recreating the well-known scenes, while making them
their own.  

The blocking for a large, choreographed scene raises issues that most audience members won’t probably think of during the performance.  Because the stage depth is limited, especially in scenes with multi-leveled stages, it is important for actors to hit their marks and stay within the boundaries of the blocked routines.  As the rehearsal progressed, the directors adjusted some of the actors’ positions in the numbers, or the ways in which they entered or left the scenes.  Because the large crowd scenes involve sound collection from a number of people at once, the levels for the range of microphones in use are also critical to the songs being coherent and balanced for
the audience.  

The play is a joint production of the Oxford Peak Arts Council and the Malad High School Drama Club, and the majority of actors are students at the high school.  From Freshmen to Seniors, all classes are well represented.  The leads for the play include Junior Natalie Webster as Belle, Senior Kolton Cox as Gaston, Junior Maren Sperry as Lefou, Senior Tyler Wilson as Maurice, Senior Curtis Huckaby as Cogsworth, Junior Joe Willie as Lumiere, Senior Addler Garrett as Mrs. Potts, Senior Sarah Beyler as Chip, and Junior Hayes Teeples as the Beast.

While there are still some lines and song elements that are still being worked on, overall the level of preparedness on the part of the actors was admirable.  Again, because the songs are so well known it is a tall order to satisfactorily reproduce them for an audience with preconceptions about the sound.  Each featured singer did a good job of capturing the essence of the familiar characters in the story, but with their own unique approach clearly on display.  By the time the rehearsals are over, the cast should be more than ready to own the stage.

The Oxford Peak Arts Council performance of the musical Beauty and the Beast will begin on Thursday, February 29 at the Malad Elementary School auditorium.  If construction plans continue apace, this will likely be one of the very last large scale public entertainment performances to be held in the auditorium before it is closed down
in November.

Last month, the Oxford Peak Arts Council ran a promotion to give local businesses, organizations, and individuals the chance to sponsor the cost of the costumes in the play.

The directorial assistants include Lacey Jo Clark, Becky Cox, Amy Giles, Travis huckaby, Curtis Huckaby, Kellianne Huckaby, Ashley Price, Ne-Cole Tracy, and Shannon Worrell.

The remaining cast includes Curtis Huckaby as the Narrator; Jayson Spencer as the Young Prince; Paige Wilson as the Enchantress; Aubrey Corbett as Monsieur D’Arque; Tabitha Webster, Serena Whipplle, and Paige Wilson as the Village Girls; Myriam Teeples, Maren Sperry, Paige Wilson, Tabitha Webster, Kolton Cox, Saigelyn Cox, Dot Teeples, McCall Clark as Wolves; Makiya Shulz as Babette; Aubree Palmer as Madame De La Grand Bouche; Jens huckaby as the Baker; Adi Schow as the Book Seller; McKenzie Leckie as the Candle Maker; Sarah Beylor as the Flower Seller; Myriam Teeples as the Laundry Lady; Abbie Cox as Marie; Mary Zabriskie as the Milkmaid; Aubree Palmer as the Sausage Curl Lady; Hannah Zabriskie as the Shepherdess; Rebecca McCracken as the Tavern Master; Bentley Teeples, Dot Teeples, McCall Clark, and Saigelyn Cox as Villagers; Jens Huckaby and Adi Schow as Gargoyles; and the following as Castle Staff: Maren Sperry, Tyler Wilson, Jayson Spencer, Tabitha Webster, Serena Whipple, Paige Wilson, Jens Huckaby, Adi Schow, Kelty Thomas, Myriam Teeples, Abbie Cox, Hannah Zabriskie, Mary Zabriskie, Rebecca McCracken, Aubrey Corbett, McKenzie Leckie, Dot Teeples, Saigelyn Cox, and McCall Clark.  

The Backstage crew was composed of Ella Sperry, Mordecai Charles, Jade Charles, Daisy Huckaby, and Nicole White.

The Oxford Peak Arts Council is led by President Jason Sperry and Vice President Chalae Teeples.  Jeni Sperry is the Secretary, Terry Wangberg is the Treasurer, and Careen Hornecker, Elizabeth Kent, Kathy Kent, and Wendy Stucki are board members.  Curtis Huckaby is the Youth Liaison.  

The play has been supported by a number of entities, including the Idaho Community Foundation, Rocky Mountain Power, Hess Lumber, Malad Area Chamber of Commerce, Envision Solutions Unlimited, Powerhouse Construction, On Pitch Performing Arts, Thomas Electric, Michael Corbett, Helen Ward, Joan Hawkins, and Amy Wilson.  Parents and Community volunteers include Jason Hornecker, Christie Oja, Lee Olsen, Peggy Olsen, Terry Hobbs, Tara Christiansen, Stephanie Ashby, Tina Bullcreek, Gary and Carolee Cox, and Malad High School
Ag Welding.