By Dana Klosner-Wehner
“It’s the classic Disney tale of a young prince put under a spell and turned into a beast until he finds love,” said the show’s co-director, Brian Messinger.
The 34-member cast has been in rehearsal since January. Every day after school, rehearsals run until 6 p.m., and they go on all day on Saturdays. But cast members don’t mind the demanding schedule. “At the end of rehearsals I’m always disappointed,” said Nicholas Moneta, a senior who plays the beast. “I always want them to go longer.”
The makeup for the beast is something of a daunting task, but it is being taken on by co-director Gina Curiale, and students. “We’re not hiring anyone,” said Curiale, an art teacher. “We wanted to get the students involved.”
The beast will wear a wig with horns and will have fur coming out of his clothing, but he will not be wearing a mask, Curiale said. The makeup — all browns and blacks, with a lot of highlights — will be done by hand, except for a piece for his nose.
Curiale has some experience doing animal faces. Before she started teaching, she painted faces for children — lions and tigers and the like.
The magical transformation of the beast into a prince will be done with lots of lighting, Curiale explained. “We built a set of a dungeon with a trap door,” she said. “The beast is going to disappear into the dungeon, then the prince is going to come up through a trap door. It looks like he is being lifted up through the air because of the lighting effects.”
The hardest part of preparing for his role was the transformation, Moneta said. “You have to get the audience to dislike you in the beginning and like you in the end,” he said. “In the beginning, [the beast] is mean and angry at the world. In the end Belle brings out his better side.”
By playing the beast, Moneta said, he has learned to let change come into his life. “The story is, a beggar comes to his door and asks for a room for the night,” he said. “He turns her away with no love in his heart. The beggar is really a witch, and she casts a spell on him and turns him into the beast. At the end he finds love and lets change into his life.”
Moneta said that one of the hardest parts of playing the beast was getting the voice down. “In the beginning his voice is very growly,” he said. “When I first started, I would hurt my voice. So now I’ve learned to go in between growling and a speaking voice.”
This is Moneta’s fourth production with the school, and his second musical. “I like acting because it’s an escape from reality and the stresses of life,” he said. “You get to be someone else.”
Francesca Trezza, a senior who plays Belle, is no stranger to the stage. This is her eighth show with the school and her second musical. “I like everything about being onstage,” Trezza said. “It’s comforting and so much fun to be someone else.”
Being involved in the shows has been a confidence booster for her. “I was really scared in 10th grade,” she said. “There were over 60 people trying out for “Guys and Dolls” — I got so scared I walked out. Last year my friend pushed me into trying out for “Footloose.” I got the lead!”
Trezza said she has learned a lot from Belle. “She can be both kind and firm,” she said. “She knows what she doesn’t like and she’s not afraid to stand up for what’s right. She’s taught me to be firm.”
This is a debut performance at the school for sophomore Billy Unotti, who plays LeFou, Gaston’s assistant, but he is not new to the theater. “I’ve always taken acting lessons and singing lessons,” Unotti said. “I’ve always been involved in community theater and summer camp shows.”
He said he loves the experience of being in the show. “Everyone is so friendly — I love all the people in the show,” Unotti said. To prepare for his role, he said, he watched the movie. “Then I put my own twist on it,” he said. “I put in a little bit of my own personality, a little bit of myself.”
For Anthony Moneta — Nick’s twin brother — a senior who plays Gaston, there is no better feeling than taking a curtain call at the end of the show. “It feels like an explosion,” he said. “It’s the best feeling to be standing on stage and the audience is screaming. You feel like a king. You normally never get that chance.”
Anthony said that people should come see the show because it’s a classic. “We put so much energy into the show,” he said. “It’s a fantasy, it’s magical and we make it all come true.”
The performances are scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 26 and 7:30 p.m. on March 27 and 28. Tickets are $8.00. Call (516) 539-9400 for more information.
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