Recently, students at Corry High put on their production of “Beauty and the Beast.” The musical began Friday, May 3, and was performed again Saturday, with both show times starting at 7:00 pm. The cast performed wonderfully, captivating the audience from the moment the curtains opened to the encore at the end.
Countless hours of preparation went in to the production of the play. From the cast, to Ms. Smrcka, to stage crew, everyone was out late running through their lines and jobs to make the play as seamless as possible. As someone who went to watch the musical, it was evident just how captivated the audience was. The applause throughout the play, and especially at the end, was thunderous.
Senior Lauren Thomas took the lead role as Belle for the play and had a stunning performance. She noted how it was a “dream come true” to play the role of Belle, and she thoroughly enjoyed the part given to her. One key lesson Thomas learned from the musical was to “cherish every moment of it because it’s over far too soon…”
On the whole, Thomas felt the play was the best show they have ever put on, and that she was a part of. She said there were a “few bumps of course, but it was generally super awesome and everyone did so well with their roles.” The only thing Lauren would have changed was the length of time they had to practice, she felt they needed a little more time to rehearse.
Emma Smith, a senior and member of the stage crew helped also did a great job at helping the play to run smoothly. Although she was more behind-the-scenes, her role was crucial in the cohesion of the play. When asked how her experience working as stage crew was, she said, “It was honestly a really fun experience! Everyone was super welcoming and answered any and all questions I had for them. It was a really cool environment and I enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes action of the musical.”
She was also asked if she would recommend this job to other students. To that, Smith said, “Yes I would definitely recommend it!” She noted how it’s “intimidating at first, but once you get it down it’s super fun to see everything come together.”
The audience could clearly see the dedication and hard work put into the musical. Many spectators agreed it was a stunning performance that kept their attention throughout the entire production.
Even though the play ended, the community is still in shock at the amazing performances. Local broadcasters will be releasing a podcast this Saturday evening or Sunday morning, May 18 or 19, on DeeJ PeeP’s Podcast. This will include a question and answer interview with some cast members of the play. Questions/comments are open to the community and DeeJ can be contacted through email at [email protected]. The cut-off for questions and comments will be Friday at noon. Tune in to the podcast to hear local theatre students and their thoughts on the recent musical.
