On Sunday night, September 22nd, Brandeisians had the opportunity to see a unique version of Beauty and the Beast. Not only did the musical have a Jewish twist, adding to the namesake of the show: Beauty and the Beast, Tale as Old as Torah, but it was also produced and rehearsed in 24 hours. On Saturday night at 8pm the cast list was revealed and by 8 pm the following night the curtains rose.
Most Audience members arrived outside the SCC to pick up tickets an hour and a half before they were distributed. People waited with textbooks, friends, food, and even a dog, eager to get tickets to the musical. For cast members and crew this whirlwind of a production meant 24 hours of singing, dancing, painting, and most importantly, coffee drinking. Many freshman cast members looked at the 24 hour musical as an opportunity to meet new people with a common interest of theater. Freshman Halley Saul said that it was “incredible to work together with people I had just met for a common goal. As a crew member, we had to figure out what to do as we went, which added to the excitement.”
The 24-hour musical took over the campus center, transforming it into an overnight theater facility. Cast member Hannah Mitchell described the musical as “a great experience. It was really awesome to accomplish what usually takes weeks and even months in a day. I was greatly impressed by the speed in which people learned choreography and music. The musical wasn’t perfect, but it was a ton of fun for everyone involved.” Choreographers, stage members, crew members and musical directors worked tirelessly to prepare for the musical and make it successful. Although the musical did have a few mishaps, most notably Lumiere’s menorah hitting the beast in the face, multiple mistaken musical interludes, and a villager dropping a baby, it added to the amusement of the show. The musical even had a few surprises to add to the experience such as a guest appearance by Senior Vice President Andrew Flagel as the beautiful lady who curses the beast. The most entertaining twist on the show was the rabbi narrator.
As the curtains opened they revealed a cast member dressed as a rabbi, flavoring the tale of the curse of the beast with several “oy”s and Yiddish inflections. Among audience members, many “thought it was going to be a lot shorter considering it only took them 24 hours to put on. The 24 hours worth of dedication shone through in the musical,” said an anonymous freshman. In fact, it added to the amusement of the musical when the beast and Belle ascended and descended the staircase to signify a change in location. Despite the lack of sleep, cast members handled themselves magnificently, remaining calm cool and collected with each hurdle that presented itself such as flipping cue pages in time or technical difficulties.
Overall, it was worth the hour and a half wait to get tickets to see this incredible feat of musical theater come to fruition.