Fox Valley Rep Blog

I am DELIGHTED to say that I visited a Beauty and the Beast rehearsal and run the other night, and was so impressed with the progress everyone is making on the show.?  It’s going to be great!

Our Director and Choreographer Helen Buck is doing a wonderful job with the show.?  She has choreographed this show 3 times elsewhere, so she knows what she’s doing and has brought a lot of great ideas to the production!

Casting was spot-on, all of the actors are doing great.?  The show really moves nicely and the scene transitions are seamless, which is often hard to do with kids’ shows.

I’m very excited about this show and can’t wait for everyone to come see it!

Tracy Whiteside, NFT Education Manager

I am thrilled to be playing Mrs. Potts! Beauty and the Beast was actually the first stage production I ever saw, I was in kindergarden. However, I never actually saw the movie until after I was casted as Mrs. Potts.

My experience with NFTYE has always been a positive one. I’ve been with the company since the first show (High School Musical in the fall of 2006!) and working with Helen (Director) is always wonderful. Helen really teaches you and lets you teach yourself, about your character. She helps you become your character, and doing so by finding out your characters background story and what makes he/she the was he/she is. It’s a really good way to be creative as well. In most cases, you can create a whole story about your character prior what the audience sees. Which makes it even cooler when those deeper feelings shine though on stage.

Beauty and the Beast with NFT has been a magical time and I can’t wait to share it with the audience! Thanks for reading and I hope you get the chance to Be Our Guest and join in the magic of the show.

Nadia

Nadia Pelletier is a 17 year old junior at West Chicago Community High School.

I feel that playing the role of Belle is very surreal for me. I’ve always dreamed of being in the spotlight on stage. Before I started doing community theater, I would do the shows at my middle school. I realized that actually lowered my self esteem about my acting and singing abilities, because I was never given large parts on those shows. Having a small part isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but back then I thought it was. It was after I did High School Musical 2 this summer at NFT, I started to feel more confident with my skills. So after HSM2, I started trying out for more community theater shows. I just recently got done playing the role of Grace Farrell in the show “Annie” at Rising Star Theatreworks. That made me much more confident, and helped me improve my skills. So getting this fantastic role really helps me see how much I’ve improved in just one year. I’m very excited!

NFT has helped me come out of my shell. The people here are very talented and hardworking, and each show or class is another fantastic experience. I’ve learned that you have to be very focused in each show you do. You need to focus on the blocking, and choreography, because we need to move fast. And after interning for numerous classes for kids at the NFT Academy, it really helps me see how many kids really want to be involved in theater. And I’m glad they’ve decided to go to NFT for proper training, because it really is a great palce to grow as a person and actor.

For my audition, I was in a very big rush deciding my monologue and song. I was going to sing “On My Own” from the musical Les Mis. But after Helen Buck (director) convinced me out of it, I decided to sing the song “Astonishing” from the musical, Little Woman. I thought it was a good choice, especially for the musical and the parts I was aiming for. My monologue on the other hand, was a tougher choice for me. I didn’t find one until the night before the audition. Which I do not recommend to kids at ALL. It was such terrible planning on my part, but I was just lucky enough to get it all memorized in time for the audition. I did a monologue from “The Notebook”, because it was kind of a sweet and innocent monologue. So I thought it was a good choice. Before my actual audition, I just took lots of deep breaths and drank lots of water too. And I didn’t worry too much, because that could have really affected my audition!

For kids hoping to pursue more acting when they’re older, just believe in yourself. I had that issue for awhile, and that’s why I wasn’t landing the parts I wanted. You just need to picture yourself as that character for awhile, and at your audition. And if you just don’t fit that part, it’s no big deal! You just need to hav confidence in yourself, and anything can happen!

Gabby

Actor Steve Sledzinski blogs about his experience of playing The Beast in Beauty and the Beast!

I love theater, there is nothing else like it in the world. My biggest passion is improv and sketch comedy and I hope to do that somehow for the rest of my life. In the meantime, I am thrilled to be playing The Beast in NFT’s youth ensemble production of Beauty and the Beast. It was actually a last min audition for me, I was asked by several people who I enjoy greatly, so I showed up to audition. And I got the part!

I have been doing theater since I was about 10 years old (I’m 19 now) and have been a part of almost every aspect of the theater from backstage to center-stage, from dancing to singing to acting. I’ve done plays, musicals, talent shows anything that gets me to do what I love. I have done things at the Paramount (RENT) and the Arcada (many Rising Star productions) and this summer I will be lucky enough to be in a sketch comedy troupe that will be in a show case at the Chicago Institute of the Performing Arts!

Rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast have begun…I’ll be sure to keep you psoted on the progress!

Steve

Hey guys, it’s Kelsey! I am so excited to be in Beauty and the Beast and blogging for the first time!!! Today is March 7th and today we had our first fitting!!! Everyone looks so great in their cosutmes and it’s so exciting to get another piece of the final show added to the mix!!! Some costumes are very interesting..like spatula and the wardrobe!!! Sorry Sarah and Shayla!!! I am so excited for tomorrow when we will be on stage with costumes and (hopefully) props!! Props being added to “Belle” will totally bring the song to life! See you all tomorrow! Till next time, -Kelsey