Shepard High School Presents 'Beauty and the Beast'

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Shepard High School students are busy rehearsing for the spring musical, “Beauty and the Beast,” based on the 1991 hit Disney animated feature. Tickets are available now for performances on April 21, April 22 and April 23.

“Beauty and the Beast” dates back to a late 18th century classic French fairy tale. Belle, a beautiful and intelligent young woman, feels out of place in her provincial French village. When her father is imprisoned in a mysterious castle, Belle’s attempt to rescue him leads to her capture by the Beast, a grisly and fearsome monster, who was trapped in his gruesome form by an enchantress. The only way for the Beast to become a human again is if he learns to love and be loved in return. There is a deadline: once a magical rose loses all of its petals, all hope will be lost, and he will stay a Beast forever.

The show features such beloved characters of the Beast’s household as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip--watch anxiously as Belle and the Beast grow to understand and befriend one another. The student cast features:

Belle - Shea Fitzgerald
Beast - Colton Sterling
Gaston - Carson Steele
Le Fou - Aidan Reilly
Luminere - Gordon Stroobosscher
Cogsworth - Patrick Corrigon
Mrs Potts - Alex Richardson
Maurice - Alejandro Gui
Madame de la Grande - Ciara Egan
Chip - Jordan Stout
Babette - Vanessa Kramer
Monsieur D’Argue, Crony - Jackson Gillono
Les Filles de la Ville - Kiana Gonzalez, Brianna Martinez, Razan Darhamad, Dina Stavrakis, Ella Correll, D’Zariya McIlvane
Ensemble - Kayla Hedger, Kaitlyn Flutman, Noah Krastin, Alison Zable, Madi Muthart, Alondra Gamboa, Emma Banis, Maggie Gleason, Gabriella Scalzo, Jenna Longawa, Lily Ferraro, Juleaya Smith, Victoria Gutierrez, Rchael Kozicki and Ashley Torres.

“First and foremost, all the credit in the world belongs to these students that you will see on stage; they have lost so much over the last two years, and despite it all, remained so eager, and committed to making giant strides forward, and raising the bar for our program,” Shepard faculty member and co-director Roland Hatcher said in a written statement. “To all students, especially the seniors, I am unspeakably proud of the work you have done, and continue to do, to make this production come to life. I am inevitably biased, but I am humbled to work with the best kids on the planet; they make it easy to put in all the extra hours necessary, to spearhead a giant production like ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”

Sharing co-director and choreography duties is Andrea Collier-Fitzgibbons; Christopher Pitlik as pit director; technical director Kenneth George; and Gordon Oliver as set designer.
Performances are at 7 p.m. April 21, April 22 and April 23, with an additional afternoon matinée planned for 2 p.m. April 23. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and can be purchased online. Please note, there are strobes and simulated gunfire during the show.

The musical is 2 hours and 15 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission. Performances are in the wheelchair-accessible Shepard High School Fine Arts Center, 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights.