Bloomington South’s show choir, Sounds of South, will perform the musical Beauty and the Beast this October on the 12th, 19th, and 26th in Bloomington South’s Carmichael Hall auditorium. The last time they performed this musical was in 2019 and people are looking forward to the fan favorite again.
Beauty and the Beast follows Belle and her unexpected love for the Beast. Senior Helena Tzvetkova and sophomore Silvia Walker are cast as the lead role Belle, and juniors Joshua Sang and Hayden Miller are cast as the beast.
Tzvetkova has been climbing the ranks with each year of high school and will finally get her chance in the spotlight. “I started off in ensemble, and then sophomore year I had a smaller role, but then I started getting bigger roles junior and senior year.” With this she said, “it just feels so good to finally have [a lead role].”
Five years ago was the last production of Beauty and the Beast, and a lot has changed. Some costumes have been upgraded, including the Beast’s mask, which was done by a specialist this year, and the set is now on a turntable. Even with changes each year, some have criticized the fact that Sounds of South cycles through the same few shows every couple of years and director Gwen Whitten said it comes down to a simple reason: “people like the show… and if you find a show that everyone wants to do, then we do it.”
The cast has been working long and hard on Beauty and the Beast for almost a year, and they’ve built close ties with each other and with the show.
Walker said that playing Belle “has been [her] dream since [she] was very little, and [she] also gets to do it with all of [her] best friends, so it’s really fun.”
When asked to describe the show and cast Whitten stated that, “the team has worked together flawlessly, and it has been a pleasure to put so much work into a show that is so much fun.”
Putting in all that work paid off because Sounds of South had a sold out show for their opening night, which hadn’t happened since before covid, and the cast was elated. If you wanna make it to the show grab your tickets for next two Saturdays soon before they’re all gone!
