feature-OTC-beauty-and-the-beast-544x408

“Beauty and the Beast” Reimagined at Olney Theatre

Originally Published by: MyMCMedia on 11/05/2021 Written by: Margaret Attridge Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a tale as old as time, has been reimagined in a new production at Olney Theatre Center. Opening on Friday…

Originally Published by: MyMCMedia on 11/05/2021
Written by: Margaret Attridge

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a tale as old as time, has been reimagined in a new production at Olney Theatre Center.

Opening on Friday [Nov.5] , the show, directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, is changing the norm when it comes to casting, featuring Jade Jones as Belle and Evan Ruggiero as the Beast. Both portray the leads of the classic Disney love story without conforming to ableist or Eurocentric ideals of beauty.

“Anybody can play a character, because you are playing a character,” said Jones in a preview video on the Olney Theatre Center’s website. Ruggiero added, “Can you play this if you’re not disabled, can you play this if you are disabled? Why can’t I play that part, how come I’m not getting the opportunity?”

Dodge, who also directed the production of “Once” at Olney Theatre Center, has said that the story is the same, but the characters “expand the definition of beauty for the 21st century.”

“It’s not being rewritten; there’s no lyric changes; there’s no text changes. We are doing the play, but we are digging in and finding some deeper meaning in those relationships,” Dodge said in an interview with Alissa Klusky, Production Dramaturg for the show. “I think it’s really powerful, and I think it will help give new context to lots of first-time theatre goers who are coming to see themselves depicted on stage.”

Read the full article at www.mymcmedia.org