MIDDLE TOWNSHIP—A highlight of the county’s 2016 summer theatre season will take place at the Middle Township Performing Arts Center in August when it hosts a grand scale production of Walt Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
The performances, presented by Shore Productions Camp, will showcase the talents of 72 youths between the ages of 7 and 15 onstage, and six others who will work behind the scenes as stage crew. Shore Productions is a seven-week theatre camp which teaches all the aspects of theatre, from box office to backstage, which culminates in four performances at the PAC’s state-of-the-art facility. Everyone at the camp has a role in the production. Performances will be given on Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, August 12 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, August 13 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. Call (609) 463-1924.
This year’s production is the fifth since the camp was started five years ago, and according to director Kay Aspell, it is the most ambitious of them all. “The costumes are more colorful, the scenery more vivid and the acting and music more demanding. Our youthful cast and backstage staff meet the challenge,” Aspell says. “Walt Disney would approve of the final product if he were alive to see it.”
The cast and supporting staff took a day off from rehearsal to attend the Broadway show “Matilda” and get a view of how a musical is produced on the Great White Way.
In the title roles of “Beauty and the Beast” are Brynne Wiser and Alan Rendzak. Others in leading and featured roles are Shane Kirby, TJ Jefferson, Jordan Severino, Justin Camp, Aidan Bradley, Gianna Balestriere, Zoe Holmes, McKenna Pelouze, Jack Morton, Katie Grayson, Abbie Crowther, Briella Heitzman, John Kramer, Jacob Bryan, Amelia Rendzak and Joey Campbell.
Aspell says, “There are no small parts in a play. Every cast member is given a vital role to make the story happen, and what a cast we have this year! They are terrific!”