Beauty & The Beast Hits Center Stage

— The Broadway show Disney’s Beauty and the

Beast will come to the Farmington High Performing Arts Center in April, with high school students filling all roles both onstage and offstage.

Directed by drama teacher Zac Perry with musical assistance from choir director Laura Jackson, Beauty and the Beast has 46 students in the cast and more than a handful working behind the scenes.

Perry said he’s tried to make the student-driven show as close to the Broadway production as possible.

This is Perry’s first year at Farmington and he has been told it is the first full musical at the high school in 12 or 13 years. It’s the first Broadway production presented by Farmington High Theater at the Tonya McCusition Performing Arts Center.

The show will be held 7 p.m. Friday, April 6, and 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 7. Doors open one hour before each performance. Tickets are $9 adults, $5 students and will be sold at the door.

Perry said he selected Beauty and the Beast because of its popularity. It is a kid-oriented and family-friendly show, Perry said. The production also has lots of special effects, such as bubbles, confetti and flashing lights, and Perry thought the audience would enjoy the effects as well as the story, music and dancing.

Perry opened up auditions for Beauty to all Farmington students in ninth through 12th grades. About 60 students auditioned and those who did very well were called back for a more specific audition.

Rehearsals were held four days a week from 3:30-6 p.m. so cast members had to be able to commit a lot of time to be a member of the group.

Along with drama, Perry also teaches stagecraft and the set for Beauty and the Beast was built by students in his classes.

“I gave them the blueprints of what I wanted and they built it,” Perry said.

Main characters in the show include senior Emily Lannutti as Belle, senior Matthew Hill as Gaston and senior Ryan Robinson as the Beast. Pedro England, also a senior, is stage manager.

Lannutti has been active with Arts Live Theater for four years and the part of Belle has always been one she wanted to play.

“She’s a strong, independent woman and she didn’t fit in with the rest of the crowd but she’s really the most normal,” Lannutti said. “Just because you’re seen as weird doesn’t mean you are actually.”

Hill, who hasn’t taken any drama courses in high school, said he was honored to play Gaston.

His advice to other students about acting: “They need to sign up for drama 100 percent.”

Hill said he believes all the practices and hard work will pay off.

“In the end, that’s why it will be so good,” Hill added.

Robinson is a member of the high school’s honor choir. He said he was interested in the Beast part because it fits him.

“I’m big and tall and scary,” Robinson joked.

Perry said he ordered professional costumes for the show so the cast will look like the characters in the Broadway production.

Perry has been impressed with his kids.

“To get this many high school kids to commit and show up Monday through Thursday is amazing.”

He also expressed his appreciation to school administration and to other teachers and parents who have helped

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington High Theater will present Beauty and the Beast on April 6-7 at the Performing Arts Center. The crew and cast have been rehearsing four days a week to prepare for the Broadway musical. In this scene, Belle, played by senior Emily Lannutti,...

Above: Farmington High senior Ryan Robinson, left, is playing the part of the Beast and Alex Victrino plays Lumiere for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which will be presented by Farmington High Theater on April 6-7. Left: Emily Lannutti, left, and...

PHOTOS BY LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER The cast for Beauty and the Beast stands together for a group photo during one of their rehearsals. The cast has more than 40 Farmington students in it with other students helping backstage and with lights and sound. Beauty and the Beast will be...