Berzerk's Beauty & The Beast
Liz Crosthwaite • Published 26 Nov 2012 05:30
0 Comments
Share this
See also:
THE tale of Beauty And The Beast, set in a snow-draped castle where teapots sing and the rose bushes bloom even in winter, is close to the hearts of many, young and old.
So it's no wonder that Berzerk Productions has chosen Disney's musical tale of finding love in the unlikeliest of places for it's Christmas production.
The shows, which runs at Woodley's Oakwood Centre from Wednesday-Saturday, December 12-17, features a cast aged from eight to eighteen, from Berzerk's drama school and in-school theatre classes.
Director and choreographer, Scott Jenkins, told us the company's production, which is selling fast, would stick to traditional themes and style.
"We want to keep it as traditional as possible because any Disney show is a classic for audiences to come and see. Because it's such a young audience, we want them to watch the show and to say 'I remember that from the film'.
"It's very top-heavy for singing and it's quite a difficult show in that sense because we are not known for our musicals. We have really pulled out all the stops. We are already in the Christmas mood, wearing Christmas jumpers!"
Scott added that the cast, who have been rehearsing every Sunday since half team, are a dedicated bunch: "It's quite a challenging for the young people. We try to mention at the auditions that our Christmas show is quite a commitment! The good thing about the company is that we try to bring as many young people together as possible."
Some of the youngsters will be showcasing songs from the musical at Woodley Winter Extravaganza, on Sunday, December 2, and Scott added that the young people were involved at every stage of developing the production.
"Every year we get the cast into a creative mood too, so some of them have been drawing pictures and we are trying to use those pictures in the show, projecting the images onto the scenery before the show. One of our old students has designed the Beauty And The Beast flyer.
"We sat down and discussed what we wanted [the designs] to be and we showed it to the cast and they give suggestions; they have lots of input into the themes.
"The morale of the cast is amazing, it's such a family. We are in so many different schools and do so many different classes, it's a chance for those different people to meet each other. It's such a good social aspect. We are building them up to be young professionals for later life, not just those based on acting.
"It's a really, really great family show."
Tickets for the show cost £9.75 for adults, £7.75 for children, and £31.75 for two adults and two children, from www.berzerkproductions.com or call 07980217126
This article appeared in Bracknell News 22 Nov 12
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Whats On archives.
