Beth-Center presenting its first musical in 30 years
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Prince Topher’s first meeting with Ella and Crazy Marie is tense before she offers a drink of water as he and his entourage return to the castle after a battle with a foe.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Lauren Zelnis as “Ella/Cinderella” and Brandon De la Torre as “Prince Topher” lead the cast of characters in Cinderella that also include Chelsea Weid as “Crazy Marie/Fairy Godmother”, Amber Hary as “Madame”, Allison Dobrinski as “Charlotte”, Max Malanosky as “Lord Chancellor Sebastian”, Jeweliana Whipkey as “Gabrielle”, and Reed Piper as “Jean-Michel”
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Lauren Zelnis as “Ella/Cinderella” and Brandon De la Torre as “Prince Topher” lead the cast of characters in Cinderella.
The last time Bethlehem-Center High School presented a musical, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” was pouring out of radios, “Cheers” was among the top-rated television series and “Rain Man” was fresh from receiving an Oscar for Best Picture.
As the saying has it, a heck of a lot of water has flowed beneath the bridge since 1989. But after 30 years, Bethlehem-Center is finally going to a stage a musical. The curtain will rise on “Cinderella” Friday and Saturday. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. each day, with showtime at 7 p.m.
So why are musicals making a comeback at Beth-Center? Students expressed an interest in making it happen, according to Debbie Young, a vocal music teacher and one of the directors of “Cinderella.”
“The kids had come to us last year about putting on a musical,” she said.
Last year, the school presented the comedy “Play On!,” the first time a play had been mounted at the high school “in a while,” Young added, and the experience fueled the desire to put together a full musical.
The three-decade drought in musicals was due in part to the lack of a drama teacher in the district and the limitations of the high school’s stage. A play here and a play there were produced, but “it didn’t really seem to stick,” Young explained. Now, equipped with a drama teacher and enough student talent to pull it off, Bethlehem-Center is reentering the fray with the version of “Cinderella” that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II created for television in 1957, and has lived on through multiple TV remakes and stage versions.
Fifty-three students are in the cast, including 10 student from the district’s middle school.
“We’re just all excited,” Young said.
For information call 724-267-4910 or go online to www.bcasd.net.