Close to 40 Hartland Community School students will bring the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast to life as the drama department hits the stage on Friday and Saturday, May 26 and 27.

Play director and HCS music teacher Amanda Carr said the students had worked hard for several months rehearsing, making costumes, completing set designs and preparing lighting and sound for the big moment on stage. She hopes to see the seats filled when the curtains rise at 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Layney Ross, playing the lead character, Belle, admitted her first foray into drama is an intentional step outside her comfort zone.

The talented singer is used to being on stage singing or part of a band, but acting is a new experience.

“I’ve never been comfortable talking in front of people,” she said.

With an injury keeping her out of volleyball season, Ross said she realized she had the opportunity to join the drama team.

It helped that Belle is her favourite Disney character.

Ross believes her experience during rehearsals has already made her more comfortable doing class presentations and speaking to crowds.

While Ross is an accomplished singer, Carr noted, she never performed show tunes, which is a wholly different dynamic. She said the young first-time actor embraced the role.

Carr said Ross was involved in drama in the past but as a crew member, usually working with sound.

Kalan Legacy brings experience and love of acting to the stage as The Beast.

“I love drama,” he said, noting he became involved in the school’s drama department soon after arriving at HCS a couple of years ago as a Grade 9 student.

Lagacy loves playing Beast despite the arduous costume and makeup routine.

While there are always a few nerves before a performance, he is comfortable once on stage.

Tickets for the performance, at $5 each, are available in advance at Valufoods in Hartland and the Hartland Community School. They can also be purchased at the door on show nights.

Email beautyandthebeasthcs2023@gmail.com for more information.

The doors open a half hour before the curtain rises each night.

Beauty and the Beast Cast and Crew:

Belle: Layney Ross

Beast: Kalan Lagacy

Maurice: William Shaw

Lumiere: Jesse Grass

Cogsworth: Georgia Brown

Gaston: Grace McCully

Mrs. Potts: Ava Doherty

Lafou: Mia Gibbs

Chip: Quinn Brown

Wardrobe: Alien Hoyos

Old Man: Jayson Grass

Lucy: Nevaeh Wade

Herbert, Jean, Guard: Camden Lee

Bimbette 1, Narrator: Leah Brown

Bimbette 2: Mackenzie Nason

Bimbette 3: Olivia McIntosh

Bookseller, coatrack: Asia Johnson

Pierre, Guard, Wolf: Brayden Tibbits

Janice, Featherduster: Sadie Mack

Baker: Jessical Faulkner

Celine: Ava Broad

Veronique: Madelyn Merrithew

Michelle: Lily Oudot

Nadine: Natalie Wright

Giselle: Omelia Merrithew

Sound effects: Sarah Brown

Soundboard: Haylee Boone

Costume and Set Design: Holland Wheeler

Stagehand: Jacob Faulkner

Stagehand: Jaden Harris

Assist Holland: Madison Walton

Blocking: Jasmine McCready

Curtains: Grayson Bridges

Assist Holland: Isabel Williams

Curtains: Braxton Doucette

Backstage Manager: Jess Shaw

Lightboard: Orian Muller

Jim Dumville, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, River Valley Sun