Exactly 100 cast and crew members from all four Hancock County school systems join hands before Thursday’s dress rehearsal at the Hancock County Children’s Theater summer camp.
GREENFIELD — A beast will be unleashed on the stage of Greenfield-Central High School this weekend.
Today marks the premier of “The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast,” this year’s Hancock County Children’s Theater production.
The play — a collaboration of 100 kids from all four Hancock County school systems, going into grades 4-8 — will take the stage at 7 p.m. tonight and tomorrow, June 23-24. The public is encouraged to attend.
“It’s basically the story of Beauty and the Beast, but it’s not the Disney production,” said Pam Johnson, who has been directing the annual summer children’s theater since 1992.
On Thursday, the cast and crew ran through a dress rehearsal. The musical is double-cast, with one cast performing Friday and the other on Saturday.
Eleven-year-old Nathan Morris was looking forward to making his stage debut on opening night as the prince.
“I’ve got a solo at the beginning, which is pretty cool,” said Morris, who will be a sixth-grader at New Palestine Intermediate School.
Abigail Singer shares the stage with Morris in the opening scene, playing a maidservant.
The 11-year-old New Palestine girl has been having a blast spending her mornings at the drama camp, which her older sister, Isabelle, and two of her cousins also attend.
“I did it last year, too, and it was really fun,” she said.
The children’s theater program was founded in 1987 to give students the chance to express themselves artistically, said Johnson.
“We were originally formed as a collaboration between all four county school systems for the kids who were part of the gifted and talented program,” she said.
Students who are more interested in art are tasked with building the sets and designing the programs, T-shirts and posters. Those interested in acting are assigned parts and take the stage while the art students run the lights and sound.
“A lot of them go on to participate in high school theater. It’s always fun for me to go to those productions and see the children’s theater’s kids,” said Johnson, a former teacher with the Greenfield-Central schools.
Each summer, the children’s theater program runs 8:30-11:30 a.m. weekdays throughout the month of June.
Isabelle Singer can’t think of a better way to spend the first half of summer.
“This is my third year. I love how nice everyone is and how they work with you. It’s a very fun atmosphere. I’ve made so many friends,” she said.
She’s also a fan of this year’s production, which is a spin on the original “Beauty and the Beast.”
“The characters in it are different from what you expect, which makes it interesting,” said Isabelle, who plays Beauty’s sister, Marguerite.
Johnson said the musical is entertaining as well as enlightening.
“I like the story line. I think it’s great, especially in this day and age, that Beauty is able to see beyond the rough, gruff exterior of the Beast and see something better. I think that’s a great thing for kids to learn.”
Johnson said about 900 people attend the children’s theater summer production each year.
Ten-year-old Marion Contreraz, who plays a singing, dancing chair both nights in this year’s musical, was looking forward to having his family attend the big show.
“My grandma is the costume designer, so she created this for me,” said Contreraz, showing off the blue velvet covered chair hanging from straps hooked over his shoulders.
Tickets for this weekend’s performances are available online and at the door. For more information, visit hancockcountychildrenstheater.org.
