Friends and Family,

I am so excited that you accepted our invitation to “Be Our Guest” and join us for Curtain Call’s Summer Youth Theatre’s 34th production! Welcome to Beauty and the Beast!

If this is your first time with SYT, welcome, and we are so incredibly happy to have you. We are a large and growing community of performers, techies, creators, and most importantly, friends ranging from fourth grade to age twenty-one, who spend our summers here at this lovely theatre, Curtain Call, which we call home. We spend our time working hard to put on a full scale musical and learning about the process from all sides. For many, SYT is one of their first times on stage or backstage, and we truly believe that it is one of the most incredible opportunities to learn and grow comfortably while being engulfed in a professional setting that prepares all involved to continue a life in theatre and the arts. So although it is an educational youth production, the show is rehearsed and produced in a very professional manner, as you will see from this spectacular show. 

Beauty and the Beast was not on our initial list for SYT’s 2024 production. As a board, we look to select a show that represents the needs and values of the SYT community. When board members started discussing Beauty and the Beast as an option, we realized that the enchanting music by Alan Menken and book by Linda Woolverton fit our needs perfectly. This charming and meaningful story sends messages of self-discovery and responsibility. These themes are all relevant to members of SYT, whether they’re starting their first year of middle school or their first year of college. Another amazing part of SYT is the new people that we meet, and the message of not judging a book by its cover goes a long way when joining this community where we support each other through it all. Needless to say, this musical represents all that SYT is and we can’t wait for you to see how our community presents it. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the handful of people who helped us put this beautiful show together. To begin, I would like to thank our director, Chris Giordano, who has brought this story out of the pages and onto the stage for you all. Thank you for making this show not only a professional experience, but also an amazing learning experience for all involved. I am lucky to be able to once again thank our music director, Matt Stolfi, and choreographer, Jenny Silverman. Over the past two years, this dynamic duo has honed every performer’s skills in their harmonies and kick-ball-changes, and to that, we are forever grateful. Thank you to our SYT Board Advisors, Grady Dennis and Lauren Gulliver Travers for always being there for the cast and crew of this production and making us feel at home in and out of the theatre. A lot of the “beauty” in Beauty and the Beast comes from the enchanting setting, and we are so lucky to have Marty Marchitto as our scenic designer and Ben Wolfe as our lighting designer to make that happen. The talent and visions you both bring to the Kweskin Stage are so dynamic and detailed and this show would not be this beautiful without you. Thank you also to our technical director, Wayne Yeager. Without your oversight, we couldn’t have brought this “quiet village” or chilling mansion to the stage. One of the most challenging jobs of this year is done by the incredible Megan Morello. The costumes in this show are some that are not seen in any other, and therefore are in need of a super duper talented costume coordinator/designer. Megan, thank you for being so dedicated to your craft and for making each dinner fork look just as amazing as Belle’s yellow dress. To our stage management team, wow! Thank you for everything you do to keep this show on track. To Ava Sanchez, our assistant stage manager, Lana Busch, our stage manager, and last but not least, Halle Hart, our production stage manager, these last few months literally would not have been possible without your organization and enthusiasm. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn’t possibly forget about this year’s production assistant, Alexander Patel. Thank you for jumping into this position, trying something new, and helping around with whatever is needed! I would like to also thank the Summer Youth Theatre Board 2023-24 for all the work that has led to this production. I will miss all of you and can’t wait to see the great things you do next year! Now, how could you ever talk about SYT without talking about Brian Bianco, Curtain Call’s Educational Director? Well, you can’t. Brian, thank you for not only what you do for this program, which is a lot, but thank you for what you do for the students. Besides organizing everything for the summer, all the educational programs, and lots of Board activities, you are also our biggest supporter. There is nothing we can do to thank you enough for that. Lastly, I would like to thank Lou Ursone, our executive producer. This program could not happen without your support. We thank you greatly for giving us the opportunity to do what we love. 

I am so incredibly lucky to have called this theatre and this program “Home” for the last ten years of my life. To be able to come back to this community every summer and know that I’m understood and encouraged to have fun and grow doing what I love is more than I could have ever wished for. So, thank you to every single person I have met during SYT and outside of SYT. I couldn’t have made it where I am today without you. Thank you specifically to this cast and crew for being so welcoming and loving and carrying on the SYT love to each new person they meet. And to all of you sitting here in the audience reading this, THANK YOU! Thank you for bringing your support and love with you today, it makes us incredibly happy to know we have that. With all that, please enjoy Beauty and the Beast!

One last time,

Maddy Galgano
President, Curtain Call’s Summer Youth Theatre 
Youth Board of Directors

Disney
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

PRODUCTION TEAM

Executive Producer            Lou Ursone

Producer                Brian Bianco

Director                Christopher Giordano

Music Director                Matthew Stolfi

Choreographer                Jennifer Silverman

Set Design                Martin Scott Marchitto

Costumes                Megan Latte Morello

Lighting Design                Ben Wolfe

Technical Director            Wayne Yeager

Production Stage Manager        Halle Hart

Stage Manager                Lana Busch

Assistant Stage Manager        Ava Sanchez

Production Assistant            Alexander Patel

Associate Producers            Grady Dennis and Lauren Gulliver Travers

Fight Choreography            Michael Serpe

Dance Captains                Aliana Aspesi, Kaylee Deenihan, and Grace Huber

Intimacy Coach                Rena Gavigan

Technical Assistants            Meghan Connelly and Jamie LaJoie

Costume Assistant            Grace Eagleton

Scenic Artistry                Brian Bianco and Meghan Connelly

Building & Assembly Crew         Zachary Bernstein, Erez Fass,
                                                   Denis Gannon, Dylan Grimes,
                                                   Hillary Ho, Savannah LaJoie, Zaac Lake,                                                    Emilee Maguire, Andrew Meli,
                                                    Finn Plantemoli, Carly Santiago, 
                                                    Maria Sharavarnyk

Running Crew    Zachary Bernstein, Erez Fass, Dylan Grimes, Hillary Ho, Savannah LaJoie, Zaac Lake, Emilee Maguire, Finn Plantemoli, and Carly Santiago

Dressers                Grace Eagleton and Maddy Galgano

Spotlight Operators            Erez Fass and Ella Lefferman

Sound Board and Projections Operator    Niko Rinaldi

Thanks to Dave Valley and Mainstage Ensemble, Hamden High School.

ACT ONE: 

Overture
Orchestra

Prologue
Narrator, Young Prince, & Old Beggar Woman

Scene One: a morning in a small village in France, and Belle’s cottage outside the village.

Belle
Belle & Company

Scene Two: The Forest, just afterward

Wolf Chase #1
Maurice & Wolves

Scene Three: Inside the Castle, immediately afterward

Scene Four: Belle’s cottage, later on.

Me
Gaston

Belle (Reprise)
Belle

Scene Five: Inside the castle, later on.

Home
Belle

Home (Reprise)
Mrs. Potts

Scene Six: The tavern in the village, later that evening.

Gaston
LeFou, Gaston & Company

Gaston (Reprise)
LeFou & Gaston

Scene Seven: The castle, later that night.

How Long Must This Go On?.
Beast

Be Our Guest
Lumiere & Company

If I Can’t Love Her
Beast

There will be a fifteen-minute intermission.

ACT TWO:

Entr’acte
Orchestra

Scene One: The forest outside the castle just after Belle has fled, into days later.

Wolf Chase #2
Belle, Beast & Wolves

Scene Two: Inside the castle, just afterward.

Something There
Belle, Beast, Mrs. Pott, Lumiere & Cogsworth

Human Again
Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth, Babette, Madame & Company 

Beauty & the Beast
Mrs. Potts

If I Can’t Love Her (Reprise)
Beast

Scene Three: Outside Belle’s cottage, later that night, and en route back to the castle.

A Change in Me
Belle

The Mob Song
Gaston & Company

Scene Four: The castle, immediately following.

The Fight on the Tower
Beast & Gaston

Home (Reprise)
Belle

Finale Ultimo
Beast, Belle & Company

*performs 8/1, 8/3, 8/8 at 7:30pm, 8/10 at 2pm.
**performs at 8/2, 8/9, 8/10 at 7:30pm, 8/4 at 2pm.

Matt Stolfi - Keyboard 1 / Conductor
Brian Coralian - Percussion
Liz Dandeneu - Reeds
Nick Macri - Bass
Joseph Petrizzo - Trombone
Stephen Purdy - Keyboard 2