Greasepaint Players’ ‘Beauty and the Beast Jr.’ plans livestream, live audience
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Greensburg Civic Theatre’s Greasepaint Players are working on a production of “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” to play for both livestream and in-person audiences.
About having a live audience, director Becky Ziegler Koch said, “People might say, ‘Why are you doing this now?’ But we thought it was important to let people know that theater is still alive. As a board, we know it’s important to follow all of the protocols and to do this as safely as possible.”
Safety measures will include limiting audience size to less than the number allowed by current Pennsylvania Department of Health orders, along with socially distanced, assigned seating.
Shows will take place at 7 p.m. Feb. 5 and 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Science Hall Theater at the Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood campus. The performances will be livestreamed.
The hour-long show will be done without an intermission and masks must be worn by all audience members, cast, crew and theater volunteers at all times, including while seated during the show or on stage.
“It’s a shortened version of the classic story,” Ziegler Koch said. “We have 24 kids in the cast and they all sing and dance, and it’s a good time.”
The Greasepaint Players are a children’s theater troupe, although some members of the cast for this show are young adults, she said.
Actors in lead roles include Conor McQueen of Mt. Pleasant as the Beast, Grace Phillips of Sewickley as Belle, Phelan Newman of Trafford as Lumiere, Joey Estok of Greensburg as Gaston, Nathan Coltura of Belle Vernon as Cogsworth, Becca Mitchell of Latrobe as Mrs. Potts and Liam Mitchell of Latrobe as Chip.
Kellie Wilson of Herminie is choreographer, and Lena Yuhas of Penn Township is stage manager.
Original plans were to stage the show in December in the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, which were put on hold due to pandemic challenges, including gathering size limits and several cast members going into quarantine.
“We’re going to get through this, although some theater groups won’t,” Ziegler Koch said. “The kids are super grateful and so cooperative. Doing this is important to them, too.
“It gives them something to do besides sitting in front of the computer all day.”
Advance ticket purchase is highly recommended for in-person viewing. Fee is $20 per person for all ages, plus fee for advance sales.
Box office personnel will assign seats with social distance between parties for all online or phone orders, in the order they are received. Those wishing to be seated together should order together. Ticket availability at the door cannot be guaranteed.
To reserve, call 724-836-8000 or visit thepalacetheatre.org. Tickets to watch the livestream in real time are $15 per household or device, plus fees, via showtix4u.com.