Tips on how to stage a beautiful show (From Oxford Mail)

Tips on how to stage a beautiful show

6:50pm Tuesday 13th November 2012 in Witney By Tom Jennings

STAGE school pupils in Witney were starstruck when Belle and Beast dropped in for a visit.

Cast members from Oxford Operatic Society’s production of Beauty and the Beast – including Suzannah Brooksbank, who plays Belle, and Guy Grimsley who plays the Beast – visited youngsters at West Oxfordshire Academy of Performing Arts (WOAPA) on Saturday.

The operatic group performed scenes and songs from its production and also taught about 60 of the school’s students, aged four to 16, a routine from the show.

Brian Conroy, of WOAPA, which meets at Henry Box School, said: “We have been learning song and dance routines for Beauty and the Beast.

“The cast came in and we performed some of the songs and dances we have been learning, and the cast performed some scenes and songs from the show.

“The children were buzzing after they left,” he said, adding that some of the younger children believed the characters were real and were “starstruck”.

The operatic society’s show is at the New Theatre, Oxford, from November 27 to December 1.