\nasks audiences to \u2018be our guest\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n
MSMT\u2019s \u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019\u00a0breathes new life into the fairytale <\/em> Allentown, Pa. (May 31, 2018<\/span><\/span>) \u2014\u00a0Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre invites patrons to experience a \u201ctale as old as time\u201d as it presents the modern Disney classic \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d June 14 \u2013 July 1<\/span><\/span>. The production features lavish scenic design, spectacular effects, and \u201ca touch of Disney magic,\u201d says director Gary John La Rosa. The show also features Alan Menken\u2019s beloved musical score \u2014 and a timeless tale of love and redemption.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a story about finding love and finding home,\u201d La Rosa says. \u201cIt\u2019s about two people who feel like outcasts finding each other, finding a way to communicate, and learning to love each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n La Rosa\u2019s directing credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, and prominent regional productions; he makes his Summer Music Theatre debut with this beloved family musical. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have gone to great lengths to make the show as beautiful, magical, and exciting as it can be,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve incorporated a professional illusionist and pushed the limits from our scenic and lighting departments, and I think audiences will be surprised at what they see onstage and how truly beautiful and magical it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d broke barriers in 1991, becoming the first animated feature nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Disney brought it to Broadway in 1994, where it ran for more than 5000 performances over 13 years. Since then, the stage version has traveled the world, playing in more than 30 countries, to audiences of more than 50 million.<\/span><\/p>\n The show tells the familiar story of Belle, a beautiful, bookish young woman from a small, provincial village, and the Beast, a vain young prince trapped under a spell. Can they break the curse in time, or are the Beast and his enchanted household forever doomed?<\/span><\/p>\n La Rosa says he expects audiences will enjoy learning the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI want audiences to be thoroughly entertained by the magical effects, by the great song and dance,\u201d \u00a0he says. \u201cBut I mostly want them to be surprised that it feels like it\u2019s the first time they\u2019re seeing the piece.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ashley Hiester, a Muhlenberg sophomore who plays Belle, says the themes of \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d will benefit all kinds of audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt seems cliched, but the message of this show \u2014 about judging a book by its cover, about learning to love in spite of difference \u00a0\u2014 are really important,\u201d she says. \u201cOur world could use some of this show\u2019s wisdom and magic right about now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d production team includes choreographer Ann Cooley; musical director Ed Bara; lighting designer Gertjan Houben; scenic designer Edward T. Morris; and costume coordinator Barbara Erin Delo. The team also includes a magic consultant, professional illusionist David Caserta, as well as makeup artist Joe Dulude II, designer of the makeup effects in Broadway\u2019s \u201cWicked\u201d and \u201cSpongeBob SquarePants,\u201d among many others.<\/span><\/p>\n These world-class artists are collaborating on what artistic director Charles Richter calls MSMT\u2019s \u201clargest, most technically challenging production ever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019 has about a million moving parts,\u201d says Cooley. \u201cThe process of creatively and technically putting the pieces of this puzzle together is what I love about theatre-making.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the show\u2019s most challenging puzzles demanded the talents of acclaimed illusionist David Caserta \u2014 a veteran of more than 10,000 live performances, including an appearance on the TV show \u201cPenn & Teller: Fool Us.\u201d A 1997 Muhlenberg graduate, Caserta took time out from his touring schedule to work on the production.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe quality of the illusions we\u2019re producing is right up there with the Broadway production,\u201d he says. \u201cThe special effects in the show won\u2019t just be stage trickery. We\u2019re making it magical.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Muhlenberg alum Alan Mendez, who plays The Beast, says the special effects aren\u2019t the production\u2019s only magic.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe magic is everywhere,\u201d Mendez says. \u201cI\u2019m really excited for people to see it. Working with Gary John has been wonderful. The set is going to be gorgeous. Ed is an extremely talented music director, and the orchestra is gonna be fantastic. The lighting and sound elements, everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re offering is truly on a Broadway scale,\u201d La Rosa says. \u201cAudiences will get more entertainment value than they could possibly imagine in two-and-a-half hours. There\u2019s spectacle, there\u2019s mystery, there\u2019s stage magic, there\u2019s wonderful story, music, dance \u2014 it\u2019s all in one show, and it\u2019s happening right around the corner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d plays June 14 \u2013 July 1<\/span><\/span>. Performances are Thursday<\/span><\/span> and Friday<\/span><\/span> at 7 p.m.<\/span><\/span>, Saturday<\/span><\/span> at 2 and 8 p.m.<\/span><\/span>, and Sunday<\/span><\/span> at 2 p.m.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n Tickets for the first four shows are $35 regular admission. Senior tickets are $31, student tickets (ages 19-22) are $20, and youth tickets (18 and under) are $17. For the rest of the run, regular tickets are $41, senior tickets are $37, student tickets are $24, and youth tickets are $21. Groups of 15+ are $25 per person, $16 for students and youth.<\/span><\/p>\n Tickets can be purchased online at muhlenberg.edu\/smt<\/a> or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Empie Theatre in Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Now in its 38th season, Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre was founded in 1980 by Charles Richter, Curtis Dretsch, and Jeremy Slavin, with the mission of offering Broadway-quality professional theater productions for the greater Lehigh Valley community, at affordable ticket prices. The annual festival will present its 83rd mainstage production this summer on the campus of Muhlenberg College.<\/span><\/p>\n Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is a highly selective, private, four-year residential college located in Allentown, PA., approximately 90 miles west of New York City. With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, sciences, business, education and public health. A member of the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg competes in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg\u2019s theater program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance. <\/span><\/p>\n Information Provided By: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
classic, opening June 14<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\nScott Snyder
\nMarketing & Development Manager
\nMuhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance<\/p>\n
\n
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