St. James Players Enter Final Performances of Beauty and The Beast
/The St. James Players’ production of Beauty and The Beast takes the stage from Nov. 11 to 19, preparing for final nights of performances at the Showplace Performance Centre.
Photo courtesy of Natalie Dorsett.
After 127 auditions, director Natalie Dorsett says the chosen cast and crew take ‘local and amateur theatre to a whole new level.’
“We have 41 people in this cast and the level of enthusiasm and professionalism is all top-notch,” she says. “We were really able to get a cast that is super solid. Everyone had lived, breathed and ate Beauty and The Beast for the past six months without complaint.”
With a ‘beautiful mix’ of both experienced and first-time performers, Dorsett says the cast’s dedication towards the production was ‘unparalleled.’
She reflects on the story-telling skills of Whitney Paget, who plays Belle, and Andrew Little, who plays Beast.
“Their ability to story-tell and captivate an audience is unreal. It’s hard doing a show that has such iconic characters. You know what they look like, you know what they sound like, and we all know a lot of the music. So bringing that to life can be a little bit difficult because people are comparing you,” she said.
As for the ensemble and other supporting cast, Dorsett says they have ‘really come into the characters.’
“I mean, they’re playing a clock or a feather duster,” laughs Dorsett. “It’s the most asinine thing when you look at it but they’re absolutely unreal. They brought these characters to life.”
Photo courtesy of Natalie Dorsett.
Dorsett says she proposed the iconic Disney musical to the St. James Players in 2019. After two years of COVID-19 pandemic delays, the St. James Players’ group is finally taking the production to the stage.
“(Beauty and The Beast) is about loving somebody for who they are, not what they are. I feel like sometimes we lose that in life. It has connection and friendship. That’s what this show is all about,” she says. “We’ve stayed really true to the essence of what that story is however, we’ve put our own unique spin on it.”
From costumes and makeup to set design and choreography, Dorsett says the cast and crew worked together to bring the classic ‘Disney magic’ to their production.
“Shelley Moody did our makeup and she has taken a vision and surpassed every single expectation I had,” says Dorsett. “Belle’s yellow dress is so iconic, what (costume designers) were able to do with the dress blows my mind. Every night she comes out on stage I am practically in tears.”
Dorsett designed and built the set with the help of her husband.
“You’ll never see him on stage. He’s not a singer, he doesn’t dance, he’s so shy,” she remarks with a laugh. “But I am not.”
The family affair also includes her daughter, Lucy Dorsett, as part of the play’s junior ensemble.
“I feel like we were really able to take it to the next level, a level I didn’t even know we were going to be capable of doing when I had all these grandeur ideas,” says Dorsett about the production. “The picture we’ve been able to create is awesome and I am incredibly proud.”
Photo courtesy of Natalie Dorsett.
