YES Company leader closes out her career with “a ‘Beast’ of a show” at Gallo Center
After years of trying to bring “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” to YES Company audiences, founding Artistic Director Melanee Wyatt finally has found success, albeit bittersweet.
The popular musical will be the final production under Wyatt’s tutelage; she will retire after 26 years leading Youth Entertainment Stage Company, an arts eduction program for students through the Stanislaus County Department of Education.
YES Company stages “Beauty and the Beast” from Friday, July 20, through Sunday, July 29, at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
Wyatt has tried to get the show over the years and particularly wanted it for YES Company’s 25th anniversary production last year, but she had never been able to secure it. Getting the fairytale to the Modesto company’s stage has been difficult, she said, because the musical is almost constantly on tour, making it challenge to attain the rights.
It’s also a hefty task to produce, she said, with an 85-member cast, huge company numbers to stage and lavish costumes to recreate.
“It’s sort of become a little joke with the whole production staff that ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a beast of a show,” Wyatt said.
“The tale as old as time,” as the musical often is referred to, is well-known to many. It tells of Belle, a young woman in an old French provincial town, and the Beast, actually a young prince who is trapped under the spell of an enchantress.
Belle attempts to rescue her father, who’s imprisoned in the Beast’s castle, but she ends up captured herself. And the only way that the Beast can become human again is if he can learn to love and, in turn, be loved, setting up a classic romantic tale.
But as Belle and the Beast grow closer, a time limit also looms: once a particular rose loses all of its petals, he will stay a Beast forever.
Add to the mix the arrogant Gaston, whose unrequited feelings for Belle drive him to take down the Beast once he realizes she cares for him instead.
The Beast’s enchanted household is populated by several beloved inanimate object characters — cast so by the enchantress’ spell — that come to life. Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip anxiously watch as the clock ticks and rose petals drop.
Originally a late 18th-century French fairy tale, the show itself is based on the award-winning 1994 Broadway musical, which in turn was based on the classic 1991 Disney blockbuster film. It features songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with additional songs by Menken and Tim Rice.
The original Broadway production ran more than 13 years and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including best musical.
Among the most recognizable songs are “Be Our Guest,” “Belle” and the title song, “Beauty and the Beast.”
The YES Company production features youths from 35 schools in 10 towns across the region. Starring as Belle will be Pitman High School’s Leah Mello with fellow Pitman student TJ Sullivan as the Beast.
Other cast members include Alexander Alvarez (Patterson High School) as Lefou; Jesse Garcia (Modesto Junior College) as Gaston; Amelia Lozano (Oakdale High) as The Enchantress; Blake Shuler (Hart-Ransom Elementary School) as Chip; David Torres (Downey High) as Lumiere; Daniel Vermeulen (Beyer High) as Cogsworth and Brielle Wallar (Modesto High) as Mrs. Potts.
Wyatt is happy to have landed the rights to the musical as her YES Company swan song.
“It’s a good way to go out, it’s a great way to go out” she said. “I’ve been wanting to do it for the longest time, and I finally got to.”
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Fridays, 3 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. July 20-29
WHERE: Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto
TICKETS: $14-$45
ONLINE: www.galloarts.org
This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 11:43 AM.