Beauty and the Beast at Barter
This Fall, the lobbies, rehearsal halls and stages of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va., will be ringing out in resounding praise of love: magical, fantastical, Disney storybook love. In a world starved of romance, where text messages have replaced love letters and ballrooms host politicians rather than dancers, the Barter Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast steps in to remind us that love is in fact still in the air, still the answer and still all you need.
In this simple story with a complex plot, love blossoms for the most unlikely of creatures: a prince once blessed with charm and charisma, now cursed with hideousness and solitude. But by a twist of fate and a stretch of the imagination, the beast abandons his boorish ways in the hopes that he will attract the devotion of the fair beauty Belle. In doing so, he will regain the hope of becoming a prince once again. Simple enough, right? But there’s another tale behind that—a love story of how this fable took on epic and iconic value in American culture.
Enter Disney. Their 1991 movie production of Beauty and the Beast was tag lined: “The most beautiful love story ever told.” Nearly two decades later, the statement holds true, as Beauty and the Beast has become a classic tale of love among both children and adults. It’s the ultimate Disney dream.
And while singing teapots, virtuoso coat racks and romantically inclined candlesticks might seem a little too dreamy, theatre director Evalyn Baron is living proof that the Disney dream can become reality and, as such, she’s the perfect directorial fit for Beauty and the Beast.
After all, once upon a time Baron was just a wide-eyed, impressionable child in front of those Sunday night Disney television programs. Then, as if her fairy godmother had waved her magic wand, Baron found herself a grown woman reciting her marriage vows in the wedding location of her dreams: Disney World. Beauty and the Beast holds a power for her that’s more than skin deep, though. “[My] generation has really been spoon-fed on the Disney vision of how life can be and this particular story of Belle and her Beast feeds the human soul as a story about the transformative power of love,” she says.
The enthusiasm surrounding this production from the director to the actors to the costume and set designers is about as contagious as a heartfelt rendition of “Be My Guest.” Sure, there are plenty of enthusiastic ten year olds who could probably recite Beauty and the Beast word for word, gesture for gesture, song for song. But in talking with everyone involved in this production one gets the sneaking suspicion that these adults will be able to hold their own with the small set of groupies. And it’s a good thing, too, because come opening night there’s likely to be whole rows of them.
While everyone involved in this production sustains a level of reverence for the innocent excitement of the throngs of child-fans, they also find the leverage to offer their own artistic execution of the Disney vision. “The simple part is satisfying the kids and their expectations and paying homage (without copying) to what Disney has done because they’ve done it so beautifully,” says Baron. “The complicated part is taking a story which is, at it’s heart, the only story to tell…that love transforms everything.”
So how do you tell the “only story to tell?” “It’s a complex process [to take something] that is so iconic already and [to make] it stage-worthy, [to turn] it into something that is not just three dimensional but eight dimensional. And of course we do that with stage lighting, costuming, set decoration, choreography, and live music,” says Baron.
But the orchestration of all that is all just icing on the big theatrical (and since we’re talking Disney) most likely singing and dancing cake. The real heart of the production is the moral of the story. It’s a moral that Hannah Ingram, who headlines as Belle in her third starring role on the Barter stage, thinks is worth telling and retelling.
“Everyone can always use a reminder of true love,” says Ingram. And while the term “reminder” may be an understatement for the rush of magic and emotion that will take place on the Barter stage this Fall, we’ll all be happy to be reminded–and even happier to be their guests.
Barter Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast opens Sept. 19 and runs through Nov. 15. For more details or ticket information, contact Barter’s box office at (276) 628-3991 or visit them online at bartertheatre.com.
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