Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Community Program
Bianca Moorman
Disney lovers, your prayers have been answered. This summer, the Island Theatre Workshop brings you the all-time classic, Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast.
For 49 years, the Island Theater Workshop Company has continued to bring family fun productions to the island. Last summer, it brought us the King and I, and this year it’s Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The cast will be performing some of our favorite songs from the film like Be Our Guest and the of course, Beauty and the Beast, plus a few added tunes, that will have you singing along with the characters and reminiscing about your childhood.
“For the past few summers we have had to opportunity to move our productions to the performing arts center at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS),” said Kevin Ryan, artistic director of the production. Last summer’s performances were held at either the Catherine Conwell Theater or the town hall, which could only seat 100 people. With a bigger performance venue, they can now perform for crowds as big as 800. After four years and with a bigger venue, the company decided to bring back childrens classics and family stories. The main focus for the summer is to have family theater entertainment for families coming to the island on vacation, or for the families already living on the island.
After about a year of planning, the workshop wanted to make sure that the program was targeted towards the younger children, Ryan reported. And the effort to appeal to a younger audience was no small task. The workshop had to get the performance rights to Beauty and the Beast in order for it to be performed on the Vineyard. Ryan said, “We really need this form of entertainment for the summer and that is why we chose Beauty and the Beast. No need to go to New York for this one.” The local theatre company will be performing the production that is currently running on Broadway. All of the talent is homegrown, including many local Vineyard children as part of the production. All different kinds of people are part of the play, including doctors, lawyers and teachers.
Opening night will be July 30th at 7:00 p.m. After opening night there will be a matinee at 2:00 p.m., on July 31st. Following the matinee, there will be a meet-and- greet for the kids to meet their favorite characters from the production. Kids can even come dressed up as their favorite characters. After the matinee, every child will have a chance to get an autograph from Belle, the Beast and many more of our favorite characters. Other performance dates will be August 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th at 7:30p.m. Get ready for a show that will be classic fun, with a Martha’s Vineyard flavor.
