Beauty and the Beast is a “tale as old as time” that we are so happy to be bringing to J. Frank Hillyard Middle School. It is a popular title for many school and community theatre productions and for good reason! The theme of acceptance and love based not on appearances but who you are underneath is great to explore in a middle school setting and is something we hope our students take with them well beyond our performance weekend. We are so excited to put our Hillyard spin on this musical and cannot wait to share it with our community.
Putting on a production of this scale takes many helping hands, and we have been very lucky to have the support of so many members of our school community and the greater theatre community in our area. We are so grateful to everyone who helped every step of this journey with costumes, props, sets, advertising, and much more. Our cast and crew are made up of many JFHMS theatre veterans from our production of Annie Jr. last year that we were so happy to welcome back, as well as many newcomers of all grade levels joining for the first time! Watching this group of students come together with the common goal of bringing this story to life has been inspiring. When theatre is done right, it really does feel like a big family, and that is what we have worked hard to create here at JFHMS. We are thrilled to welcome all of our audience members into that family as you enjoy our show!
Thoughts from the cast and crew:
“A musical is much more than a performance. It’s a one of a kind experience, whether it’d be your first show, or your millionth. The thrill of being onstage and working with others can really get to you! Also being an audience member, and seeing the magic truly happen from months of work, it’s beautiful. I hope the audience gets a message in their head that speaks “You can do anything if you put your mind to it.” The true talent and growth I’ve seen is amazing, and I can’t imagine if people didn’t try. Trying is what got me in the cast, what got me to be the performer I am today!”” – Sebastian Harper, 8th grader, 2nd year in musical
“Musical is more then creating a performance it is also about making a family with everyone, and treating everyone with respect.” – Sofia Webb, 8th/1st year
“ I have met so many people through Musical, and not only is it really fun, it teaches you a lot of important things too. I learned responsibility and compromising with others is also a very important trait Musical can teach you. Musical brings me so much happiness and sometimes it can just be a chance to be yourself and escape reality for a little bit. I hope the audience sees how much work we put in and like the show. I also hope that the younger kids may even be inspired to come and do something like this when they get into middle school.” – Isa Steinbach, 7th/2nd year
“Being a part of a musical gives you more experience and it can make you feel proud of all the work you’ve put into the production.” – Addison Cherry, 8th/2nd year
“Musical is an opportunity for me, as a student, to express my creativity in a beautiful way. I love working with everybody, and it makes me so happy that I know those people will be beside me forever. Theatre kids stick together!!!” – Amelie Nguyen, 7th/2nd year
“Musical is a family, it’s a place to feel safe and be who you really are.” – Sage Mauro, 8th/1st year
“What draws me into the musical is getting to learn something while at the same time I get to share my interests with the people I’m working with.” – Emma Sonifrank, 6th/1st year
“My favorite part of being in musicals and plays has always been being able to project myself in ways I can’t anywhere else.” – Cici “Ren” Ciccone, 7th/2nd year
“The song Be Our Guest is my favorite part of the musical, because it really just brings magic and life to the whole musical.” – Sarah Manetta, 6th/1st year
“I love the Gaston scene the best because the choregraphy is so much fun to do.” – Betsy Fly, 6th/1st year
“My favorite part of this year’s show is the battle scene where all the villagers storm the castle, everyone was just so amazing during blocking and choreography and it’s turned out amazing.” – Ivy Herrick, 8th/2nd year
“I think the mob song is my favorite because I got to pitch my own idea” – Jude Ritchie, 7th/2nd yea
“What I’m looking forward to the most this year is just some of the song’s I am in, because a lot of the songs I’m in are some of my all time favorite songs of the musical.” Hudson Comer, 7th/2nd year
