For months, students created sets, acted, sang and danced their way across the seventeenth century decorated stage. Whirls of candles, plates and spoons whisk through practices daily in order to prepare for one of the largest productions the Revere Players have ever put on.

Laurie Russell, director of Revere Players, announced that the spring musical this year will be Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Russell mentioned that with many new people having joined the cast this year and more time for her to invest in the musical, the Players are able to perform the production. Since it is a Disney musical, a lot more characters are presented, causing each cast member to get more time on stage.

Junior Audrey DeLong will share the role of Belle with sophomore Ashley Oakley. They will play the lead in three performances each. DeLong discussed the qualities that make the musical more challenging and larger than any performance in the past.

“This is the first time Revere has ever done a fantasy. There are people playing objects and things that do not actually dance and sing. It’s a lot bigger of a production because it is so well-known, so it is a challenge to live up to the expectations of a show that everyone knows,” DeLong said.

Russell revealed what the audience should look forward to in musical this year, and gives credit to the costume designer Debbie Meredith of Akron Theater Design & Costume.

“The audience should expect a Disney extravaganza. The exact Broadway Disney Beauty and the Beast script and score of music is used. The costumes are phenomenal, and I’m very happy with how they turned out. They should just be ready for a really fun experience,” Russell said.

Russell also expressed her pride in the cast and what she enjoys about working with them this year. Even with the abundance of snow days causing less practice time for the cast, she says the members stayed dedicated and prepared to rehearse extra days.

“We have extremely talented singers and actors, but most of all they are hardworking and enthusiastic. They are doing a wonderful job, but unfortunately we missed [multiple] practices due to snow days and other emergencies. It has not dampened their spirits, though; the cast is even willing to come in on Saturdays to practice. They are such an enthusiastic bunch,” Russell said.

Bob Carlyon, musical director of the Players, teaches the chorus all their parts and coaches the soloists. He ensures that the music is played and sang in the correct style. He explained the process he goes through to teach the cast their specific parts.

“Once I get the scores, the hard part is going through and choosing who should sing what part. I have to learn to adapt to make it sound good with the voices we have; the easy part is teaching the parts once I have figured out what parts to assign,” Carlyon said.

Carlyon praised the cast for their musical abilities and gave pros to choosing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as the musical. Additionally, he discussed the extensive number of male cast members that joined this year.

“We have a really good group of boys this year. A lot of the time, there are not as many guys. There are so many good voices, and that’s one reason we chose [Disney’s Beauty and the Beast], because you cannot put on this show unless you know you have the voices to perform it,” Carlyon said.

Third grade teacher Rena Baker assists Russell in creating choreography for the production. Russell acknowledged the challenges the two have encountered this spring while figuring out the dance numbers.

“[Baker] and I basically make up the choreography, as we have been together for 20 years; we seem to have a knack for it. We kind of look at what we want the big picture to be, then fit in dance moves in between,” Russell said.

Robert Pierson, RHS art teacher, is in charge of designing the set props and backdrops. Student volunteers stop by after school to help paint the sets, and the more dedicated members became eligible to earn a spot on backstage crew. He got an idea of the backgrounds to create based on the time period, then sketched out designs related to the other illustrations found.

“The time period is not really stated, but its somewhere around the seventeenth century…I drew a lot of buildings with the Tudor style look and thatched roofs,” Pierson said.

Russell highlighted her main motives for the rest of the year and what she is grateful for about this cast. She indicated all the directors’ admiration for the Players and the production.

“The directors are all really proud to have time to spend with the kids and put on a great show. We want to make Revere proud, and we think we are going to. The crew and actors feel really lucky to work on a huge piece,” Russell said.

Performing on stage will be Audrey DeLong, Ashley Oakley, Abbey Niemi, Emma Weihe, Julie Mullet, Clarice Sigsworth, David Speer, Max Marsillo, Nick Jones, Griffen Hansen, Dominic Manning, Justin Evangelist, Russell Klein, Sam Fergason, Leia Gertz, Olivia Detzel, Mackenzie Bowen, Leah Bonyo, Sarah Blake, Rae Ann Wilcox, Casey Amato, Madison Williams, Mikayla Lupo, Jordan Oldham, Ben Mullaly, Ben Lewis, Isaiah Kessler, Noah Sigsworth, Dean Manning, Tim Oros, Jacob Zimmerman, Alex Isada, Joci Scott, Susie Post, Lucia Boulos, Brady Marks, Shelby Kohmann and Grace Godard.

After the crew creates various props and the cast prepares the songs to be sung in addition to dances, the cast will be ready to perform this musical on April 10 and 11 at 7 pm, April 12 at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm and April 13 at 2:00 pm.