Beau and The Beast

FAIRFIELD – It’s a tale as old as time, for sure, but with a thoroughly modern spin. The North Stratfield School Drama Troupe is presenting its fifth annual musical production, Beau and the Beast. That’s right—Beau is a boy and the Beast is a girl! And there’ll be lots more surprises in this light-hearted, song-filled retelling of the famed children’s story.

Performances will take place Wednesday and Friday, Feb. 15 and 17, at 7 p.m. at Fairfield Ludlowe High School Auditorium, 785 Unquowa Road. Tickets cost $6 each; a limited number will be available at the door.

Set in the French countryside, this update of the classic fairy tale is populated by a cast of delightful Villagers and Enchanted Objects who together fill the stage with music and magic.  Beau and the Beast features a cast of 87 North Stratfield students in first through fifth grades—so many kids that, for the second year in a row, the performance has been moved to the larger stage at Ludlowe High School. 

Parents of each and every child are involved in all aspects of the production, from building sets and organizing costumes to selling tickets and creating programs. They are led by a hard-working committee comprised of North Stratfield parents Jean Gallati, Susan Buck, Neal Fink and Miranda Vincent, and sponsored by the NSS PTA.

The production is directed and choreographed by Maria Verderber, a professional actress (stage name Maria Vee) a veteran of the Downtown Cabaret Theater Children’s Company. Some favorite roles there over the years have been Heidi, Queen Frostine, the Dish, and most recently, Queen Malevolent. Back for her fifth season at North Stratfield, she teaches drama and directs plays in local schools including Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) in New Haven and Notre Dame in Fairfield. She also is founder and director of the Summer Stars Theater Camp. Wherever she goes, she wins the hearts of the young players and their parents.