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ARTS & CULTURE

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After two year delay, BLT’s Beauty and the Beast hits Haven stage

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JULIA V. MILLER

T“Two years in the making.” Director Paden Phillips summed up Brookhaven Little Theater’s production of Beauty and the Beast in just a few words. “Two years of something that is so intricate. It’s amazing.”

It may have been two years since the play was originally cast, but in reality, Phillips has been working on and thinking about Beauty and the Beast for much longer than that.

“The way the theatre works is you have to always be thinking about what’s next,” he said.

When he was on the board about three or four years ago, they were brainstorming ideas for their next big spring musical. The BLT had done three back to back:

Mary Poppins, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid.

“I was in the mind frame of what can we put in that time slot that will be really fun and be equally big,” he said, and he decided to pitch Beauty and the Beast.

“Everyone knows it. It’s Disney. It’s fun. It would attract a big cast.”

From there, it took on its own life. BLT put out their casting calls, held auditions and began rehearsals. Phillips remembers practicing in the rehearsal space “ It’s the suspense of knowing we’re while Diary of Anne so close. We went

Frank was running in the theater. Then from nothing two

COVID-19 swept in, years ago and this and production shut down. is what we

“There were a lot of things we talked about have now. doing because of the uncertainty of it,” he Director Paden said. “This could be Phillipsover in three weeks, or this could last four months.”

Ultimately though, like theaters all across the country, Brookhaven Little Theater went dark for over a year. When they reopened last summer with BLTeens

High School Musical, Phillips began thinking about the possibilities before them.

Once they solidified the 2021-2022 season with

Beauty and the Beast back in that spring slot, they reached out to the original cast members. Each one

Paden Phillips imagines what opening night will look like for Beauty and the Beast, over two years after the original casting call.

was offered their roles back, and around 80 percent hopped back on board.

“That’s something that really shocked us,” he said. “We thought we were going to have to start from scratch again.”

There are 11 principal characters, and only three had to be recast.

“The mentality going in was hope that we could pick up where we left off,” he said. “But the reality of the situation is two years after you’ve staged something it’s very wrong to expect someone to remember exactly what they did.”

There were, however, a lot of small things from the original staging that inspired this second round.

“Luckily, since we had a big part of the cast that still had the scripts, a lot of them were coming in with notes scribbled in already,” he said.

One of the big changes for the director’s role was how the staging came together. Because of some shifting behind the scenes, he took on a bigger role and functioned as a co-choreographer. At the beginning of rehearsals, the cast and crew have the script and that’s it. So the director has to be able to supplement the stage directions in the way that best helps the story progress.

“No one knows where to go. No one knows where to walk on what line, so you have to present that image,” he said.

One fun aspect of this particular production comes from the casting of a married couple as Belle and the Beast. Evan and Haven Busbin have both been involved in the BLT for a few years, and they both jumped at the opportunity during the original casting call to audition. Though Phillips said it’s a happy coincidence to have cast them both in the leading roles, it really came about because of their own individual talents.

“Evan has this very big commanding presence on stage, and Haven is a Disney princess in real life,” Phillips said. “A lot of it really came from their sheer talent. The fact that they are married strengthens the belief behind their parts.”

Phillips also said casting some of the former BLTeens actors has been special. He has been the director of that program for the last five years, and he’s seen many of those kids graduate to pretty prominent roles in other shows. Two BLTeen alums that jump out were Mary Lawrence McKay, who is his co-choreographer, and Mcclain Boyd, who plays Lefou.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids blossom and take on new responsibilities,” he said.

For Phillips, this show has really exemplified all the aspects that make community theatre great. There’s a balancing act of casting people you’ve worked with and giving newcomers the opportunity to jump in.

“You see [returning cast members], and it does make it so much easier. You can give a direction that is understood by them because they know how you work,” he said. “But you don’t want to knock anybody from having a genuine chance. There are a lot of new people in this show who have really come out of their shell that I hope continue to stick with it.”

When the curtain lifts March 31, Phillips said he will be standing at the back of the theatre or in the sound booth amazed that his vision has finally made it to the stage.

“This show, whether directly or indirectly, people remember this is the last thing they were doing when the pandemic hit,” he said. “It’s the suspense of knowing we’re so close. We went from nothing two years ago, and this is what we have now.”

BLT’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES

• Thursday, March 31, 7:30 p.m. • Friday, April 1, 7:30 p.m. • Saturday, April 2, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. • Sunday, April 3, 2:00 p.m. • Monday, April 4, 7:30 p.m. • Thursday, April 7, 7:30 p.m. • Friday, April 8, 7:30 p.m. • Saturday, April 9, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. • Sunday, April 10, 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are available at brookhavenlittletheatre.com