Theatre Cedar Rapids finding beauty within the beast

CEDAR RAPIDS — The fine line between hero and villain will blur even more, as Theatre Cedar Rapids strives to unleash the beauty within the beast this holiday season.

The Disney classic tale as old as time unfolds onstage from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15. Whether you’ve seen the 1991 animated film or the 2017 version starring Emma Watson, this stage version will have lots of those elements, and others that will be new to audience members across the ages, including music added when leaping from screen to stage.

It’s the story of a superficial, spoiled prince who turns away a beggar woman, based on her appearance. She’s actually an enchantress who turns him into a beast and his staff into household items, from a clock and a candelabra to a feather duster, a teapot and silverware. All will remain stuck in these forms unless The Beast can find love before the last petal falls from a rose encased in an hourglass.

If you go

What: “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”

Where: Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

When: Nov. 15 to Dec. 15; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday and some Saturdays

Tickets: $27 to $68 adults; $27 students and youths; TCR Box Office, (319) 366-8591 or theatrecr.org/event/beauty-and-the-beast/2024-11-15/

RELATED EVENT

What: Enchanted Castle Experience

Where: Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

When: 9 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 16

Details: Features a character meet-and-greet with the enchanted princess, crafts, treats, beauty boutique, and more; for ages 2 to 12 and their families; dressing in fairy tale finery is encouraged.

Tickets: Staggered arrival times every half hour between 9 and 11:30 a.m.; select your preferred time slot when purchasing tickets; $30 ages 12 and under, $20 adults, theatrecr.org/event/enchanted-castle-experience/

Among the principal actors are Wolfgang Amadeus Borchardt, 22, of Cedar Rapids, as The Beast; Claire Ottley, 33, of Mount Vernon, as strong-willed Belle, who finds her escape from village life through books; and Brandon Burkhardt, 24, of Coralville, as ego-driven Gaston, the village “hero” who captures the heart of everyone except Belle, his own heart’s desire.

As the actors began researching their characters, certain aspects they hadn’t even thought of began to emerge.

Hero vs. villain

“This show does a really good job of taking your stereotypical bad guy and making him the hero, and taking your stereotypical hero and making him the bad guy,” Burkhardt said. “I’d say that Gaston is naturally heroic, but unlike your standard hero, he’s not afraid to let everyone in town know how brave he is.

“I think that Gaston is the full embodiment of toxic masculinity,” Burkhardt added, “and as I’ve been exploring the character, I think that it comes from a place of self doubt, that he really has pushed himself to become the picture-perfect image of what he thinks a man should be. Because he has that doubt, it comes out when you see him failing in his efforts towards Belle.”

On the other side is The Beast.

“The Beast is a larger-than-life character,” Borchardt said. “ … He is animalistic (and) angry, with a little bit sadness thrown in there. He is someone who is over-imposing and tries to be imposing in every room he walks into — physically and vocally and emotionally to the people around him. …

“He’s big and scary, which is great fun to be playing.”

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Burkhardt typically plays more princely, kindly roles, charming Cinderella at TCR in 2021. But he also played The Beast for Coralville’s City Circle Theatre Company in 2018.

“I’ve been finding so many just strange similarities between the two of them,” he said of Gaston and The Beast. “I really feel like they were on the same path, and Beast found love and found purpose, and Gaston never did, so he kept driving into that path even harder.

“It’s weird how some of the lines are very similar, and some of the ways that they both originally approach Belle are very, very similar,” he noted. “But you can see The Beast starts to kind of change his approach, whereas Gaston just doubles down and makes the same approach — just louder.

“It’s been really cool to get to flip the coin and see both sides of it. And also because Gaston is on (stage) for a big chunk, then off for a chunk, while The Beast is on (then off), and then back on. So it’s like the exact opposite path, both metaphorically and physically. We almost never share the stage together, but when we do, it is just a big, big power moment between two very similar characters that start to sway different paths.

“It’s been very fun to experience both sides of it,” Burkhardt said.

Lessons

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Ottley finds the Beast/Gaston dichotomy endearing, and one of the uplifting factors that bridges the gap between the show’s 18th century setting and 21st century sensibilities.

“The hero chooses genuine kindness and chooses gentleness, and that’s the thing that ultimately wins,” she said, “and not (Gaston’s) sort of supermasculine, aggressive(ness). That’s the personality that doesn’t ultimately win.”

The change in the relationship between The Beast and Belle wins the show for Ottley.

“And that is really important,” she said. “We’ve talked a lot about making sure that Belle is a good role model for young women — again, making it relevant and important in a modern setting, and not just leaning on the Disney aspect.”

Her Belle “has a pretty interesting learning journey of starting out somewhat judgmental of her kind of pedestrian town that she and her father live in, and feeling sort of stuck,” Ottley said. “She has some nice escapes through her books, and that’s where that relationship with reading and stories and fantasy come from.

“But we’ve really tried to give her a bit more strength and a bit more voice, and less ‘princess,’ less ‘damsel.’ And I think the original Belle really carries a lot of that, too. We’re just sort of pushing it further, giving her a bit more maturity,” Ottley said, “and that's found a lot in her music, too, which is nice.”

Musical notes

Burkhardt especially loves the way the show breaks vocal traditions.

“From a musical standpoint, and being the music nerd that I am, it’s interesting that it’s two baritones going head-to-head,” he said, “because in musical theater anymore, it’s always a lead tenor; baritones are the bad guy or nonexistent at all; and then you might have, like, an old bass.

“This is two young baritones going head-to-head, with very similar songs ending with the same high note. And I think the composer did a fantastic job of showing you that these two characters aren’t that far off — but what in their path changed them to become either the hero or the villain,” Burkhardt added.

“There’s so much intentionality behind the script and the music and all that,” Ottley noted. “It’s really fun to see that even in a Disney show, it’s actually not fluff. It’s still very intelligent and challenging. My songs are challenging for me. I think we’re all very challenged, and we’re all very seasoned performers. I’ve been taking voice lessons since I was 8, so it’s fun to be challenged.”

All three also are challenged by the choreography, and give kudos to Megan Helmers for her vision, patience and artistry, teaching Belle and Beast to waltz, and working with Gaston on lifts.

“Megan’s incredible, and she's great at giving you things that are within your skill set, but also challenging you to learn and grow,” Ottley said.

Burkhardt has proved he’s fleet of foot time and time again — especially in the off-the-charts tap numbers in “Something Rotten!” this past season at TCR. This time, his moves incorporate a lot of lifts woven into the fight choreography.

His gig as an elementary music teacher by day and actor by night doesn’t give him time to hit the gym. So between classes at Marion’s Francis Marion Intermediate, he goes to the corner of the music room and does pushups.

“I will say it’s kept my brain awake when I’m teaching all these classes, too,” he said, “and it’s allowed me to build some strength so I can do all these lifts.”

Belle and The Beast need to glide effortlessly through their waltz, in one of the story’s best-loved moments. But the process hasn’t been effortless, and they work on their dance in every rehearsal, and even outside of rehearsal.

Borchardt’s costume changes things up, as well.

When TCR staged the show in 2016, facial prosthetics enhanced The Beast’s menacing look. Borchardt’s costume will rely more on face makeup.

“I feel like that’s going to allow people to see certain things that they wouldn’t be able to see normally,” Borchardt said, “and then we’re also just going in a different direction.”

His Beast also sports giant wings, which changes the image people might have from seeing the animated- and live-action films.

“I would say (he’s) definitely less mammalian and less bearlike, and much more dragonic,” Borchardt said. “ … I’ve been working with my wings a lot, (figuring out) how we can position them and how we can use them in our scene work, and even in the dancing that we do, or some of the fights that we have.”

From a story both tough and tender, Borchardt enjoys the way Belle’s strength helps her relationship with The Beast unfold.

“I really do love the rapport that Beast and Belle build throughout the show, with how challenging she is (compared with) what he’s used to, with everyone just doing what he says, and (Belle) challenging him both as a big, scary person, but also emotionally, to actually think about what he’s doing and how that affects other people.”

Ottley loves the play’s message “that being kind and intimate and gentle is important, and is what should be aspired to,” she said. “That’s a good aspect.”

“Like you said,” Burkhardt added, “it doesn’t always take being the most heroic person to be the true hero.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com