A correction was made at 6:48 a.m. Dec. 5, 2024: An earlier version of this article showed an incorrect spelling for actor Cole Greeley.
Before this fall, Philomath High senior Cole Greeley never gave much thought to performing in a school play. While many of his classmates in the theater have participated in on-stage productions since middle school, it was just something that he had never attempted.
But then he got a little nudge from longtime PHS play choreographer Lori Haslam and ended up auditioning.
Gallery: Philomath High’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (December 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High School’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” during a B cast dress rehearsal Tuesday.
“She’s always pushing me to be more communicative and be more open in the community and try to pursue other opportunities … and we go to church together and she allegedly knows I’m a good singer,” Greeley said before a Tuesday night dress rehearsal for Philomath High’s production of “Beauty and the Beast,” which begins its run of four shows Thursday.
Performers, the crew and others involved with the play along with sets, costumes and prop designs will take over the PHS auditorium at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There will also be a matinee showing at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students. The A cast will perform Thursday night and Saturday afternoon and the B cast will be on stage for the Friday and Saturday night shows.
With opening night approaching, Director Shannon Webb, who heads up the performing arts program at the middle school, said the kids would be ready.
“There is certainly more work to be done and that’s one of the best and worst things about music and a performance like this,” she said. “You never feel done and there are always things you can improve on. It’s just about being comfortable and confident.”
The musical was performed three times Wednesday — a condensed version for Clemens Primary School students and then full versions for Philomath Elementary and Philomath Middle School students.
“It’ll definitely all come together, it always does,” said PHS senior Brooke McDaniel, who plays Belle in the B cast. “It’s like the magic of performing night, it all just goes together.”
Webb said “Beauty and the Beast” has always been a musical on the wish list to perform but it quickly moved to the top based on access to purchasing the rights. All high school performances of “Beauty and the Beast” must be performed by the end of 2024.
“It just so happens that they’re doing a Broadway revival of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and what that means for us is Music Theatre International — the place we get productions from — is taking it out of circulation,” Webb said. “So it’s either like now or in 10 years.”
Another advantage to performing the play comes down to the cast of characters.
“We have a lot of stars and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ allows for many people to shine like Lumiere, Cogsworth, Belle, Beast — there’s so many leads to this and so it allowed a lot of students to be in a starring role,” Webb said.
Auditions for the play started in mid-September and evening practices were scheduled three times per week.
Webb soon found out what Greeley could do on stage and cast him in the role of the bookseller (in both casts). In the play, he has a solo moment during the performance of “The Mob Song” and also sings in a scene with Belle.
Greeley said he enjoys immersing himself into the persona he performs on stage.
“I do it for the storytelling through taking on the role of a character,” Greeley said. “I can kind of push aside real life and be someone else for a time.”
A bookworm growing up, McDaniel fell in love with Disney-type princess characters portrayed on the pages of various books that she read. Now as a senior in high school, she’s playing Belle (her twin sister, Hanna McDaniel, plays Belle in the A cast).
“I just love that she is from this little town, kind of like Philomath, and then she has her own big adventure and learns who she is along the way,” Brooke McDaniel said about the character.
Among the musical numbers, Belle performs a solo number, “Home.”
“I love the singing … I’ve always loved singing even from when I was little,” McDaniel said when asked what she enjoys most about participating in school plays. “But I also it’s just the people here that make it so fun because everyone loves what we’re doing.”
PHS junior Lucy King plays Lumiere in the B cast, a role that required her to develop a French accent.
“Let me tell you, it’s harder than you would think to sing in a French accent,” she laughed. “I started doing Duolingo lessons in French to try to get it down.”
King enjoys playing the character.
“He’s loud and he’s big and I can really do no wrong, I just have to be super dramatic and out there, it just works,” she said.
King feels at home on the stage with her participation in school plays going back to the eighth grade.
“My mom and my grandma wanted me to do it and I was like, ‘OK, I guess I’ll do it for you guys,’” King said. “Then I did it and I loved it. It’s so much fun and the people who do the play, it’s just unlike anything else I do. Like I do a lot of sports and there’s always competition and stuff in the team and that’s not my experience here.”
Beyond the French accent, King said another challenging part of this year’s play for her comes down to dancing.
“I’m not good at dancing,” she said. “Like, I struggled with that a lot, so I practiced a lot.”
McDaniel has been performing in school plays from the sixth grade on. With participation in several other school activities, including athletics, it can be a challenge to fit everything into a typical day on campus.
“We get up, go to school, go to swim and then straight to the play and then after that, it’s home and homework and then we do it again,” McDaniel said.
King has similar experiences.
“It’s rough, especially taking AP (advanced placement) classes this year,” she said. “It’s been difficult to have time for homework and because I also did a fall sport. So a lot of times I would leave the house at 7:30 and not get back until like 9 at night. But I’m a big planner — I write everything down — and I have to stay organized.”
