Theater Review: "Beauty and the Beast" by Trumbull Youth Association

Trumbull - It was a treat for me to return to the Trumbull High School Auditorium to attend a Trumbull Youth Association production. This year the large group of young performers are presenting a high quality production of “Beauty and the Beast The Broadway Musical” under the direction of Brett Boles. The show will close on Sunday.

“Beauty and the Beast” features music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. It was originally produced on Broadway by Disney Theatrical Productions, of course.

Boles had to be away from the rehearsal process because he was down in West Palm Beach, Florida for the world premiere of his new musical “Time Stops, so he had to lean on his assistant director Julia Levine to keep the ship on course while he was away. Levine is an alum of Trumbull High School and is rising senior at Carnegie Mellon University. In his director’s note, he expresses his thanks to “The Mamas” for having him back every year, and for “providing such a nurturing atmosphere in which we can play!”

The director took inspiration from Maurice’s lyric “No matter what the pain, we’ve come this far/I pray that you remain exactly as you are,” writing “no matter what pain the last few years has visited upon us, no matter what pain the future may hold, my wish for each of them is that they remain exactly as they are.” Previous TYA productions included Mamma Mia! in 2021 and “Pandemic the Musical” in 2020, both of which I am sorry to have missed.

Producer Mary Joan Wright explains why they do what they do with TYA in the interesting TYA History included in the program. “Everyone who has worked on the shows knows the enormous teaching opportunities they present, essential life skills–teamwork, presence, appreciation for the creative process–and learning how to ‘build the magic’ of a show from the bottom up.”

Jacqueline Mate is beautiful in every way in the role of Belle, especially in her magnificent singing. Mate is a senior BFA Music Theatre major at Elon University and was nominated as Sondheim Awards Best Actress for her role of Roxie in “Chicago.”

Harrison Gilberti (pictured above) is an impressive Beast, both scary and tender all while using a strong singing voice. He is studying vocal performance at Baldwin Wallace University and this role marks his seventh and final TYA production.

Carlos Perez broadly plays the role of Gaston and brings out all of the comedy in the interactions with his sidekick Lefou. Perez, who will transfer to Western CT State University in the fall to continue studying vocal performance, appears in his first TYA production.

Nicholas Ferreira (pictured above) is a delight as Lefou, with plenty of physical comedy in his memorable performance. Ferreira has studied at Broadway Method Academy and is participating in his fourth TYA production.

Niko Charney (Bill Austin in “Mamma Mia!”) plays the John Tartaglia role of Lumiere and is suave and funny. Charney is a sophomore studying musical theatre at the Manhattan School of Music in NYC. Antonio Mantero, a Halo and Sondheim Award winner and nominee, is terrific as the stuffy Cogsworth the clock and Mia Bekech, who played Donna last year in Mamma Mia!,” is lovely as the teapot Mrs. Potts. Bekech is headed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in the fall to study musical theater. Newtown High School student Ben Fogal is the teacup Chip.

Dayo Garritano (Scar in NewArts’s production of “The Lion King”) is very strong in their role of Belle’s eccentric father Maurice, and does well with the duet “No Matter What.” Hunter Wisnewski, who was in the children’s ensemble for “Children of Eden” in her first of eight TYA shows, is the very French Babette. Reilly Gramesty is the opera diva Madame de la Grande Bouche in her second TYA show.

Trumbull High senior Vincent Chistoni plays the prince with Isabella Cabral as the beautiful Enchantress. Isabella Mercardo, Irene Yezersky and Julia Inacio play the adoring Silly Girls.

The group of performers play townspeople and enchanted objects, in addition to a young, well-costumed ensemble. Mary Joan Wright, Merial Cornell and Jill Clark get credit for the wonderful costume design.

Trumbull High School teacher Jessica Spillane is the stage manager. The producers include Merial Cornell and Mary Joan Wright, with Sabrina Post as music director and impressive choreography by Lisa Mennilli, who has been the owner and director of her Dance Academy in Newtown for the last 43 years. The dancing in the very funny “Gaston” was great, as were all of the moving parts in “Be Our Guest.” The large set pieces designed by Joe DeTullio are brought off and back again by the dedicated set crew in order to bring the audience to a village square in France, the Beast’s enchanted castle and other locations in between. I was hooked from the action of the Enchantress in the prologue right through the “Beauty and the Beast” reprise that closes the show.

Kudos to the fourteen musicians in the orchestra under the direction of Stephen Ferri, who make the glorious score sound just that.

The delightfully traditional printed program is thick with ads and information.

There is still time to catch this big and very professional show featuring young performers. The show is presented with a fifteen-minute intermission. It runs through Aug. 7, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available online and at the door. https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/66005

TYA photos

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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