Langley High School’s auditorium was covered in fog, stars, and a brand new world of enchanted towns and French provincial towns as the audience were transported into Walt Disney’s original story Beauty And The Beast. From November 14 to November 17, Saxon Stage held this play; a story of a young girl called Belle who gets captured by a hideous beast, who was once a prince that had been cursed. If the beast can love somebody and in turn, have somebody love him back, then the spell will be released and he will be human again. Full of comedy, song, dance, love, and adventure, the story took the audience on a journey. 

Every year, Langley has one play in the fall, and a musical in the spring. This year, the roles were switched so that the musical was in the fall instead. 

“I like to move around with different genres for each musical I do,” director and theater teacher Brian Kaufman said. “I like to do things ranging from satire to contemporary, but this year, I felt like doing a murder mystery, so that’s what we did.”

The play starred Ellie Fox as Belle, and Zachary Ulman as the beast. Abhinav Mogil was cast as Lumiere, the charismatic candle, and Caden Peng as Cogsworth, the anxious clock. Atlas Zecca played the young prince before he was turned into a beast. The cast of people cast as the villagers or the silverware in the castle added a vibrant touch to the liveliness of the play. 

“I do have a system I use when casting the roles. At the end of the day, everyone does a great job auditioning. So, I make sure that each role suits each actor so that it’s as strong as it can get,” Kaufman said. “The main goal is to get the audience at the end of every show to say, ‘wow, that was a great show,’ before giving kudos to the actors. I make sure that every person that is cast, including the ensemble, is a strong, solid group as a whole.” 

Rehearsals for the play were not easy. Depending on whether you were in cast or crew, some people would have to stay at school until 6 p.m. starting from September. During tech week and the days the show was running, students had to stay until 10 p.m., going as far as even spending 12 entire hours at the school.

“I think it was there’s a lot of moving parts in the piece and in the musicals in general. And there’s all the technical stuff […] There’s a lot that goes into it,” Kaufman said. “It took a lot of effort from the group as a whole and even though it was a big undertaking, we made sure that at the end of the day it would be successful.”

“The most challenging part of the play for me was dancing on a bar, because sometimes the bar would tip and I would almost fall and it was scary,” Junior Cooper Short, who played the bartender and narrator in the show, said.

The play received lots of positive reviews from the audience. With numerous cappies reports describing it as a “compelling performance” and “enchanting.”

“The play was super magical,” freshman Zaahra W said. “It was like I was transported into a Disney town or village.” 

All of the effort put into the play by Brian Kaufman, the cast, and the crew has paid off. 

“It always gets a little stressful as we gear up for the performances itself, so I’m proud of the group as a whole,” Kaufman said. 

Overall, the musical was a memorable night, one left in the minds and memories of the audience.

“If you want to join theater, stick with what you’re doing, don’t give up, and one day you can dance on a bar drunkenly like I did,” Short said.