Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. But then, one winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.
Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.
This excerpt from Beauty and the Beast gives a glimpse of what our BHS students will be performing Nov. 9-11.
The Beast is senior Talan Torrez.
“The Beast is a cruel character and I am, mostly, a genuine guy,” Torrez said. “The Beast and I are alike because we both sing.”
Torrez, through rehearsal, has seen some major differences between his character last year, Troy Bolton, and this year’s character, the Beast.
“The mentality of Troy Bolton is very different from the Beast’s mentality,” Torrez said. “Troy is more of a happy character whereas the Beast is a monster who has a deep tone and comes off mean a lot of the time.”
Senior Bailey Smith has participated in the fall musical for 5 years.
“I have been in the musical all 4 years of high school and I also did it in junior high,” Smith said.
Smith, who will play the role of Belle, sees similarities in her parts. Smith played the role of Gabriella Montez last year in Disney’s High School Musical.
“The parts are similar because they’re both the sort of the nerdy smart girl.” Smith said. “But they are also very different because I’d say Belle is a lot more sophisticated and stronger in a sense than Gabriella was and I’m really excited to play more of a sophisticated role that deals with different emotional struggles.”
Director Katie Jacobsen is excited to participate in yet another Baldwin High School musical production. Jacobsen has been involved in Baldwin musicals for many years.
“I have participated as a director in some capacity for all 6 years I’ve been teaching in Baldwin,” Jacobsen said. “This is my 7th year and 7th musical. I assistant directed my first year, music directed my second, then took over as director my third and have been the director ever since.”
Jacobsen has done a variety of shows in her years in Baldwin.
“Shows we have done since I got here include: Seussical, Once Upon a Mattress, The Music Man, Jumpin’ Jivin’ Drive-in, Cinderella, High School Musical, and now Beauty and the Beast,” Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen is the Music instructor at the Baldwin Elementary School Intermediate Center. Her high school students claim she works extremely well and she gives off a motherly nature to the kids.
“My expectations are pretty consistent between the IC and the HS,” Jacobsen said. “I hope all my students can exercise respect for others, themselves, and the materials they are using, and try even when it’s not something they’re interested in.”
“I love working with high school students on shows like this and wouldn’t change that for the world,” Jacobsen said. “Each person has so much to bring to the table and shows up willing to work hard to create the final product. We have so much fun together and I love watching it come together from start to finish.”