The Music and Drama club (MAD) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) presents their fall production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a story of a prince who is cursed for his vanity and selfishness and a clever and perceptive village girl who teaches him to love again. Fairy tales change over time, with each generation putting new twists on old stories. Disney’s 1994 stage musical is an adaptation of its own 1991 animated feature of the same name, which is in turn an adaptation of the French fairy tale La Belle et la Bête.
Disney’s retelling of the story adds the character Gaston, a parody of hypermasculinity. Gaston’s excesses ultimately lead to his downfall when he attempts to force Belle’s hand in marriage. Instead, the Beast, changed by Belle’s kindness, wins her heart with his gentleness and humanity. Now a generation removed from Disney’s adaptation, it is interesting to consider how the story might evolve again to fit 21st century sensibilities. “There are definitely aspects of this story that I would change if I could, and I invite you to have discussions with your viewing companions on how your ideal fairy tale would go,” says the play’s director Katrina Jackson, a space science video producer at GSFC. Still, she says, the production offers childhood nostalgia, flashy songs and dances, and fun characters all creatively staged with beautiful costumes at Goddard’s Barney and Bea Recreation Center on Good Luck Road.
This fall’s musical is one of the most ambitious in MAD’s recent history. Nearly one hundred local volunteers are contributing their talents in the cast, orchestra, production staff, design team and build crews, including several Greenbelt residents. MAD’s production of Beauty and the Beast epitomizes community theater’s labor of love. Beauty and the Beast runs from October 26 through November
11. For more information and tickets, visit madtheater.org. Since some roles are double-cast, audience members are invited to check the matrix on the website to follow particular cast members.
Beauty and the Beast at MAD
Greenbelters Jon Gardner (Lumiere) and Jim Pasquale (Cogsworth) perform at a dress rehearsal.