Naparima Bowl reopens with Beauty and the Beast

WELL-loved musical stage adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast will play out at the Naparima Bowl, San Fernando, over a four-day period, from January 16-19.

Few tickets are remaining for the gala show which will take place on January 18, evening and an additional show which has been added for the morning of January 18, due to the high demand for tickets.

The play which is being put on by the Naparima Girls' High School will also mark the reopening of the Bowl which was under repairs over the past few months.

It also marks the return to the stage of the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Department after a seven-year absence. The department usually puts on a play every three years. The last production, Sound of Music, was staged in 2017, but the continuation of its programme was interrupted by covid19, production manager and vice principal Naomi Woodsley told the Newsday in an interview on January 13.

Noting the history of the schools and musicals (inclusive of Annie and 13 Daughters), she said this production was in keeping with that trend.

“We felt the time was right to get back to providing our students with that opportunity to participate in a major artistic endeavour. To use the opportunity for our girls and boys, from the neighbouring schools, to express their artistic talents, build important networks and sense of camaraderie that is important to the growth process, and again an appreciation for the aesthetics. Arts in education essentially.”

Due to limitations set by Disney, one being the cost per ticket cannot exceed US$20, she explained the event is not a fundraiser. Woodsley said they were not aware of all the constraints until they started the process. She said there were three plays shortlisted to reflect the talent of the present students and what they really enjoyed.

“By the time we made contact with Disney and got all these instructions, people's hearts were already set on this musical, so we went ahead.

“Whatever profits we make would go towards our building fund, but it is really to give the children the opportunity to express themselves artistically and give them that appreciation for the role of the art, music, dance, drama.”

Director for the play, his fourth with the school to date, is playwright, author, and artistic director of Iere Theatre Victor Edwards.

For the first time, Edwards will be working with one of his daughters, Renna Edwards-Paul, the school's music teacher, in her professional capacity as music director.

In fact the school's three music teachers, Edwards-Paul, Toni Williams and Timothy Bally are all part of the 13-member strong musical ensemble, along with music students who will be providing live accompaniment.

Some professional musicians, including gifted pianist Rowena Wattley and brass exponent Rellon Brown, are also part of the orchestra to provide the range of music required for the play. Pannists from the Naps Combined team will also factor in the musical arrangement.

This is Edwards fourth time as the school's artistic director.

“I have a kind of symbiotic relation with Naparima Girls' High School. I like how the schools operate. They have a very strong visual and performing arts department. The way they organise their department to promote the arts, when they ask, I don't think I can refuse to direct, although it takes three months of my life, four days a week, for this one project although I am retired.”

Edwards, former curriculum officer for drama and theatre at the Ministry of Education, said in 2010 when he was first approached to do Annie, he was still co-ordinator for visual and performing arts at the ministry.

He said this afforded him the opportunity to integrate the various disciplines into a production.

“I agreed to do Annie to prove the point that the arts curriculum written for VAPA worked and it is still working. I did it with Form Three students and it was a success.

“In the first and second term, teachers concentrated on the individual discipline and in the third term, teachers got together to show how the arts could be integrated through performance.

Edwards praised the commitment of the students who spent their holidays in rehearsal.

He also commended choreographer Beverly Hinds for her excellence and art teacher Allison Maicoo whose students have been painting the sets.

He is promising an excellent production of the Broadway musical which features two Belle's – Jxaihon Taylor and Sameeah Rojan, Presentation College student and calypsonian Marcus Mc Donald in the role of Beast, Josiah Ferrier as Gaston, Liam Sookram as Le Fou, Ché- Nathaniel Knights in the role of Maurice, Gabriel Rahaman as Cogsworth, Skye Solomon as Lumiere, Jeniece Pierre as Mrs Potts, Arisa Rajan as Chip, Nareesa Rampath portraying Babette and Ivana Debie as Madame de La Grande Bouche.

Beauty and the Beast tells the story of a prince who is placed under a spell which has transformed him into a beast. A wilting rose symbolises the time he has to live, unless he finds love with a beautiful young lady he has imprisoned, and that love is returned.

The magical spell has also transformed the servants and those at his castle into inanimate objects.

Some costumes used by the UWI Creative Arts Department when it staged Beauty and the Beast, is on loan to the school for its production.

Four school shows will take place on January 16 and Friday 17 at 9 am and noon, in addition to a 7 pm show on January 17. A show at 9 am is scheduled for January 18, along with the 6 pm gala, and the grand finale on January 19 at 5 pm.