Beauty and the Beast Enchants Audiences

Just before the half-term holiday, audiences were thrilled by the school production of Beauty and the Beast. Miss Thurston and Mr Edwards Gill lead on the production by Charter Players of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr.

Mr Edwards Gill, Head of Performing Arts at Great Yarmouth Charter Academy said:

 

“I was six years old when the original animated film of Beauty and the Beast was released and ever since, I have loved Alan Menken’s beautiful score. I have longed to produce this show, so for me, this is truly a dream come true.

 

After the success of last year’s production of Frozen Jr, we wanted to tackle something even more ambitious. Hopefully the effect on the audience will be the same, but behind the scenes, this show is much more complex. We are blessed at GYCA with a company of talented, brave, dedicated theatre practitioners who work very hard to deliver a polished show. We are so very proud of them. This year, our company has grown to 86 pupils and the show is run entirely by them. From lighting, sound and microphones to stage crew, actors and dancers – it’s all done by them. The grown-ups just watch the magic happen.”

Costumes for the whole cast were sorted and furnished by Beth Noble and Tori Davison, both of whom are GYCA alumni. It was a pleasure to have them back at school and to help create such wonderful costumes. Another extra special thank you goes to Dr Jervis who handmade all of Belle’s beautiful dresses, and who was on hand to coordinate the quick changes throughout the productions.

We welcomed the dance troupe of pupils from another Inspiration Trust school, Great Yarmouth Primary Academy into our Thursday and Friday performances. Another huge thank you to Mr Land for all of your help in organising this opportunity for the primary pupils.

The Great Yarmouth Grammar School Foundation has once again offered their generous support in upgrading our lighting rig. Thank you to them for continuing to support our productions at Great Yarmouth Charter. and to Mr Rosembert and the Inspiration Trust for their continued support for the Performing Arts at Charter.

Thank you to all of the staff at GYCA and members of our wider community who have generously given their time and support to help us make this show happen. It has been an astounding and deeply rewarding team effort.

This production has been an entire year in the making. It’s been a huge amount of work for everyone involved and it has been worth every second. We sincerely thank you for coming to watch and supporting live theatre. Please find photos from the production below, taken by Year 10, Harry Holliday who is a GCSE Photography pupil at Charter.