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Photos by Naomi Vaughan
MEMBErS of riverdale Children’s Theatre rehearse ‘Beauty and the Beast, Jr.’ at the Bronx House School for Performing Arts on Feb. 18. The show runs through Sunday, Feb 28. Below, Dylan Mejil as Lumière with older brother Daniel Mejil as Beast.
Children’s Theatre wants you to be their guest By Isabel Angell iangell@riverdalepress.com
T
he Riverdale Children’s Theatre (RCT) is tackling another family-favorite musical. This time, it’s the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast.” “Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast,” the cast sang on Feb. 18, in their last rehearsal before their first weekend of sold-out performances. For this show, RCT is bringing back professional actor Guy Ventoliere to be the production’s teaching artist for a fifth year. As part of the role, Mr. Ventoliere will actually be in the show, playing Belle’s eccentric father Maurice. “They can see how I prepare, they can see how I behave onstage, not only theater etiquette, but also focus and not fooling around, and the energy,” he explained. “Usually it ends up being the energy, like really being in the moment.” “They’re very professional. I’m a professional, and this is professional,” said musical director Linda LoPresti, who is a music professor at Lehman College and directs the music program at P.S. 57 Crescent School in Belmont. “It’s so many pieces. It’s a million piec-
es. I just never realized,” she said of the production. “It’s a lot for us [the adults], so imagine what it’s like for a 14-year-old or an 8-year-old. They learn so much.” When asked to name her favorite musical number from the show, Ms. LoPresti was stumped. “Oh, it’s hard,” she mused. “I think I’d have to say ‘Be Our Guest,’ because everybody’s onstage,” she finally said, referring to the song in which all the inanimate objects in the Beast’s castle come alive. Dylan Mejil, 12, plays one of those crooning accoutrements — Lumière, the debonair candelabra. “My favorite part about it is doing a French accent, because I say something out of the show in a French accent, I’m like, ‘Oh, I play Lumière, it’s a force of habit,’” he said. “During class a lot I’m like, ‘Zee answer eez…’” “It’s one of the best productions so far from Bronx House,” said Dylan. “It’s very extravagant — fantastic costumes, fantastic sets — and it’s a fantastic show overall. It’s something that the whole family would enjoy.” “Beauty and the Beast, Jr.” runs through Sunday, Feb. 28 at Bronx House, located at 990 Pelham Parkway South. For more information, visit www.riverdaletheatre. org.
FIOrELA MIrIA as Lefou and Justin Cruz as Gaston.
At far right, Aleesa riddle as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Taylor McPartland as Belle and Victoria Negron as Mrs. Potts.
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