Once upon a time, the inspired artistic director of Olney Theatre Center, Jason Loewith, invited me to direct a new production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I immediately said, “Yes!”  My previous experience at Olney, on our wonderful production of Once: The Musical, was such a fulfilling adventure, I was certain we could make magic again.  A bright occurrence in the otherwise devastating past year of 2020 was the Zoom-Helen Hayes Awards where I had the opportunity to pay tribute to my beautiful Once company.  It was wonderful to be with the local theatrical community again. I am so happy to be back, this time with my long-time creative partner, the passionate & wildly inventive Choreographer Josh Walden.  

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So, what have we been up to? Well, a lot!  

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My approach to revivals is to “smuggle in some deeper meaning” wherever I can. Also, I never assume the audience has ever seen the show. With our Beauty and the Beast, I want to reach into the hearts of children of all ages; engaging them to use their imagination to help us tell the story. Real life is messy and filled with contradictions. Fairy tales are matter-of-fact in their enchantment, concise, and to the point. Our production connects both worlds, putting us in touch with a deeper understanding of Beauty inside and out. We will employ age-old traditions of theatrical storytelling to create a magical world where the power of kindness transcends the frightening features of the monster.

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Joining me on this adventure are frequent collaborators, Set Designer Narelle Sissons to invent our remarkable environment; Costume Designer Ivania Strack to fashion the fantastical frocks, and Lighting Designer Colin K. Bills to paint our landscape with light. We have been working for almost 2 years (the plus-side to the pandemic) to develop the world of the musical. Narelle’s set, a psychological “box,” is a castle in decay that allows different locations to emerge; we’ll be employing lots of exciting non-literal imagery and stirring theatrical techniques, including playing with scale and performing shadow play. Plus, super-Sound Designer Matt Rowe and Fight Director Robb Hunter is designing the battles and he’s got some cool surprises in store.  Props Designer Jose Nuñez and Props Artisan Jason Dearing have been busy creating our village shops, props, and contraptions based on Narelle & Ivania’s designs inspired by 17th Century French Engravings by Nicolas  L’Armessin.

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I knew our production would also be defined by how we approached the casting of these iconic roles. Our production is designed for the audience who comes to the theater to see themselves depicted on stage. I was determined to layer in a celebration of diversity into this timeless tale.

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Belle.  This was easy.  I had first worked with Jade Jones in 2016 on 110 IN THE SHADE at The Ford’s Theatre. I cast her from a video—which was unusual then—and she proved to be a bright light on stage and off.  I knew she could sing the role and then she came in to read and it clicked. We found our Belle! Jade is authentic, funny, poignant, smart, and beautiful plus!  

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Casting continued in February of 2020 when Josh and I came to Olney working with Casting Director Jenna Duncan and Music Director Walter “Bobby” McCoy. Our Mrs. Potts is the thrilling Iyona Blake, quirky Sasha Olinick is our Maurice; Dylan Arredondo’s comedy clinched it for Cogsworth; Jessica Ball’s high notes make her a most delightful Madame de la Grande Bouche; Hailey Ibberson brings a fresh approach to Babette; John Sygar’s Lefou is pure delight; and tiny and talented Miranda Pepin is Chip!  

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Our wonderful Ensemble includes Jessica Bennett, Selena Clyne-Galindo, Erica Hansen, Quynh-My Luu, Ariel Messecca, Shiloh Orr (swing), Connor James Reilly, Graciela Rey (swing), Megan Tatum, Rick Westerkamp, Tyler White, and Michael Wood.

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One big question that continued to nag at me was, “Why is the Young Prince so mean to the Old Woman/Enchantress?”  I was very interested in exploring the "why" of his behavior -- the text doesn't supply any backstory -- it only left me with questions: Where are his parents? Does he become “perfect” when he's restored? Or is he somehow hindered in some way? It got me thinking that maybe this boy was physically challenged in some way, perhaps he lost a leg and that has made him a bit mad at everyone, mad at the world. What if I could cast someone who had endured a life-changing event, like, say, Evan Ruggiero:

 

Evan began dancing at the age of five in his hometown studio and by age ten, he was accepted into the famed New Jersey Tap Ensemble. Upon entering his sophomore year at Montclair State University while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre, Evan was suddenly diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer of the right leg. Enduring nine surgeries in a six-month period in an effort to save the leg, the cancer returned more aggressively than the original diagnosis. He was faced with the ultimate decision of amputation in order to stop the cancer and save his life, as well as undergoing chemotherapy for sixteen months. Eighteen months after the amputation, and only two days after receiving his “peg-leg,” Evan was tapping again.

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And--not only could Evan tap, but he’s also a fine singer and wonderful actor. So, we invited Evan to audition for the role of the Beast. Josh, Chris Youstra, Olney’s Director of Musical Theatre, and I met with Evan in NYC on March 11, 2020. We left Pearl Studios filled with the excitement of finding our Beast! 

 

And then came the shutdown.
 

We all thought we’d be delayed by a few weeks, or a few months, but never did we imagine we’d be delayed for an entire year. But, this gave us time to dive more deeply into our design and bring Jade and Evan into the collaboration. It was important to the team to create a cultural construct for our casting choices and with the keen insight from Kevin McAllister, Olney’s Director of Curated Programs and BIPOC Artist Advocate, we began meaningful discussions about the impact of our choices. These are the types of conversations that give us new possibilities when working on classic material. For example, out of those conversations came this question: “How will the audience know that Belle’s mother was Black?” That’s when I excitedly suggested our Mrs. Potts’ Iyona Blake appear in a dream moment to depict Belle’s Mother in, say, the song “No Matter What” ...which is exactly what we are going to do!

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We completed our principal casting adding the wonderful Michael Burrell as Gaston, and beloved actor Bobby Smith as Lumiere, and then--on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was violently attacked by a mob of supporters of our 45th President.

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This terrifying event had a direct impact on our production. Now seeing a man wearing animal antlers would conjure a disturbing image, and not from Disney fairy tales’ stock in trade.  

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So, we began to reimagine our Beast and our Gaston without the frightening shapes that would evoke the wrong kind of terror. Our Gaston represents toxic masculinity which is often found in locker rooms—so our Gaston is an egocentric Jock and his followers are Superfans. The Tavern scene won’t boast trophies but rather evoke a herd of superfans’ swag.  Our Beast will have antlers, but they will hang low, like a deer’s. The design for the Beast leaves his peg-leg exposed -- for that is his authentic self -- and we celebrate him. His transformation removes the Beast attributes revealing a deeply changed and beloved one-legged Prince.

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So here we are! And now, with the addition of all of you, our vision will be complete. For theatre is a true collaborative effort and, in this story, it really does take a village. Well, a French provincial one.

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A story that celebrates community, authenticity, acceptance, kindness, plus a few magic spells, is our happily ever after.

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I look forward to leading you and listening and learning!

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Directingly yours,

--MMD