Dominican's Beauty and The Beast promises to be magical

With a talented cast of more than 50 students, Dominican is proud to present its latest school musical which is setting itself up to be the most ambitious production attempted by the school to date.

The four consecutive performances of Beauty and The Beast will commence in the school assembly hall on Wednesday, February 17 to Saturday, February 20 at 7.30pm.

The rights for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast were only released on February 1 this year and Dominican College is proud to host the first amateur dramatic production of this musical within Northern Ireland and the second production anywhere in the UK.

Final rehearsal preparations are well underway and staff and students have been rehearsing busily since early September under the experienced skills of Head of Drama, Mrs Kathy Walsh.

Terry Cloughley, Head of Music has worked very hard to put the pupils through their musical paces assisted by Richard Campbell. The challenge of choreographing the dance sequences has rested with Rosemary O’Connor.

Audiences will be transported to the heart of provincial life in a lovely French town as Beauty and The Beast tells the “tale as old as time” of Belle (Maeve Smyth), a young woman from and of Beast (Rory Powers) who is really a young prince trapped in a spell by an evil enchantress whom he refuses to help.

When Belle's father Maurice (Mark Jamieson) becomes lost in the woods on the way to the fair, he seeks shelter in an old castle encountering, in the process, the enchanted characters within. Firstly a tightly-wound mantle clock, Cogsworth (Matthew McIntyre), next a charmingly handsome candelabra, Lumiere (Conor Loughrey), followed by a sweetly maternal teapot Mrs Potts (Nuala Davies), a delightful teacup Chip (Nuala Osborne), and finally Babette (Paris Dunlop) and Madame de la Grand Bouche (Fionnuala Cunningham) all of whom have fallen under the spell of the master of the castle, a seemingly horrible beast who takes Maurice captive.

Comedy is brought to this story by the local lothario, Gaston (Scott Hamilton) and his trusted sidekick LeFou (Jordan Jones) whose comic double act is juxtaposed with the keeper of the local "Maison Des Lunes", the sinister and dark Monsieur D'Arque (Kit Grier-Mulvenna.) As the tale unfolds, Maurice's daughter, Belle, faces the dilemma of giving up her freedom to save her father’s life

Mrs Kathy Walsh described her excitement at finally fulfilling her long-term dream of bringing a Disney Musical to the school stage and explained that more than 52 highly talented Dominican students from years 8 to 14 will be onstage in a variety of challenging roles.

“Disney's Beauty and The Beast offers a great opportunity to bring our local community together for family musical theatre at its best and I can’t wait to see local audiences captivated by this magical musical for the first time,” she said.

Tickets for the Wednesday and Thursday night performances are specially priced at 7.50 with concessionary seats reduced to 4. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances are 9 and 5. Doors open at 7pm each evening and early arrival is advised to secure the best seats.

Tickets can be booked either directly from the school office or by contacting the school at 027083 2715.