“The Beauty and the Beast”

Disney’s classic fairytale is coming to the Cultural Arts Center in Carrollton. The show will be held Mar. 16  to Mar. 18  and Mar. 23 to 25 at 7:30 p.m., while the showings on Mar. 19 and 26 is at  2:00 p.m.  Adult tickets are $15 and youth tickets are $10. This Academy Award-winning animated motion picture feature inspired the Carroll County Community Theater to create the show this year. It will feature songs written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice. 

 This love story is about the character Belle, played by Ally Murrah, and the Beast played by Dakota Kuykendall. The Beast, is  a young prince trapped under a spell and must learn to love, and to be loved in order to break the spell.   

 “I hope they get swept away in a fairy tale story of smart, independent beauty and a beast struggling to find his true self who find each other, and love, in the process,” said Ginna Blair, Beauty and the Beast show director.  

 Beauty and the Beast has been played to over 35 million people worldwide in 13 countries.  This play has been extremely popular, especially this year with a new feature film releasing this spring.  

 “It is all exciting! I know it seems cliché but this show is truly magical and has been from the very beginning so I am most excited about the community having an opportunity to see it and be transported into this classic fairy tale,” said Blair.  

 The show has been the biggest production yet at the cultural arts center  and had about 100 people audition for the 55 spots needed to fill for the cast, which is the most that the center has ever had before.  Auditions took place early this year, and the first read through to prepare for the big show began Jan. 5. Along with the 12 main characters, the cast included narrators, a chorus and dance ensemble.  

 “I am not sure we have ever had such a turn out and had so many people from which to choose,” said Blair. “We ended up not being able to cast some great singers and actors into the cast. As a director, this is a wonderful problem to have, but as a friend to the community it is tough not to be able to cast everyone.” 

 This magical show provides beautiful costumes that were each hand designed and built by local artists and costumers. With this being a love story, they wanted the outfits to have creativity while staying true to the original tale.  

 “With all the enchanted costumes, we had to set a firm number for the cast so as not to tire our costume team and budget,” said Blair. 

 This family friendly show hopes to show the community this brilliant love story about how to not judge a book by its cover and to always be able to love ourselves and others.  

 “I want the outside world to disappear and for a couple of hours, the audience to escape to an enchanted castle and be reminded that love conquers all.” said Blair.