Most people know the story: a small town girl looking for bigger and better things with her life trades her entire life away in order to free her father when he is locked in a beast’s castle. The girl struggles with her new life in the mysterious castle, but learns to love it, and befriends the residents she is forced to live with. Without giving away the rest of the plot, the rest is theatre history. Meet the Cast The FHS Drama Club will be performing their first ever rendition of Beauty and the Beast this year, and the cast has been hard at work for the past four months to put on the perfect show. “The last two weeks it all completely takes form,” said junior Jordan Cinderich, who is playing the supporting role of Lumiere, a saucy candlestick who takes residence at the castle. Cinderich will be leading one of the biggest numbers in the show, “Be Our Guest.” Some of the other leads include seniors Becca Fleming and Nathan Novak as the “beauty,” Belle, and the Beast, and sophomores Jimmy Kappas and Andrea Cary as Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts. This cast seems to be the perfect fit for Freedom’s drama club this year. With our strongest seniors leading the production and some of our most talented underclassmen shining through, Beauty and the Beast has the potential to be one of Freedom’s finest. Production Process Putting together a successful show with over 150 kids in it can be one of the most challenging things to do, especially working in a high school, but director Keith Kovalick (KK) has done it before and plans on doing it again. The process started at the end of November and moved swiftly through March, where lyrics, harmonies, and lines were drilled into everyone’s heads. This, being the longest and most tedious part of the production, is the part that matters the most. Without this memorization, actors will not have the chance to practice getting into character by the time they get into costume. One of the biggest challenges the club goes through, Cinderich explained, is locking into character. All of that memorization of songs and lines is useless unless you can switch into your character when you’re on that stage; and of course, that’s the magic of theater. Show Time Friday, March 26 through Sunday, March 28 will be the available dates for the production at 7p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2p.m. on Sunday. As always, the auditorium will be packed; tickets are available in Mrs. Baker’s office for every show. The FHS drama club hopes to make this one of their best productions ever, and the actors haven’t forgotten the Mancini awards that may be on the line. Last year, our students were nominated for 13 Mancini awards, winning 10 of them, and this year they plan on nothing less than that same success. Losing seniors always hits the drama club very hard at the end of the play; four months of rehearsals almost every day makes these kids like a family. The fun times have to come to an end sometime, but meanwhile the drama club plans on putting on a fantastic show for everyone who will be attending.