Hayden Gish will feel more than opening night jitters when she steps out onto the Historic Landers Stage for “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” on June 9. Playing Belle, the female lead, is more than just another role to the 22-year-old Springfield Little Theatre veteran.
“It’s going to be really emotional,” Gish said before rehearsal on June 6. “Belle is a role that my late older brother wanted to see me play, so this is where my personal attachment to the character comes from. So it’s going to be emotional, but in a very full circle way.”
Bryson Gish, Hayden’s big brother, died on January 28, 2021, due to unforeseen medical issues. He was 31 years old.
“It’s been really surreal for me (to play Belle),” Gish said. “I just have some really close, personal connections to the character. She’s just very close to my heart in a very, very deep way.”
Belle a ‘wonderful heroine' for young girls
Belle's character is close to many hearts after a 1991 animated film and a 10-year run as a Broadway musical. “Beauty and the Beast” tells the story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed into his former self.
“It’s a beautiful story,” said Lorianne Dunn, who is directing the show with Beth Domann. “I would encourage people not to just take it for granted as a piece of fun fluff or beautiful spectacle, but to really think about the message. It’s a beautiful message. Belle is a wonderful heroine, I think, for young girls. She’s smart, she stands up for herself, she can give it to (the Beast) just as strongly as he can give it back to her. She’s loving, she’s caring and she’s able to fall in love with the humanity inside more than the external. And it really is a story of transformation because they both, in their own journeys, transform.”
It’s a journey Gish is enjoying.
“Belle has this arc of her own self-discovery, that life isn’t the way you expected, but yet it’s still beautiful,” she said. “It’s about finding peace and beauty — pardon the pun — in life being different. I’ve really related to that.”
Production includes 79 cast members, 247 costumes
The Springfield Little Theatre crew has been hard at work transforming the inside of the Landers Theatre for the production, which runs through June 25. SLT’s version of “Beauty and the Beast” features 79 cast members, 247 costumes and countless props. It’s a massive undertaking, but one that Dunn enjoys.
“That’s a large cast any way you look at it,” she said. “I like to work big. I think it’s really fun in a show of this magnitude, a Disney musical, where its source material is animation. I think it rises to that scale. It’s great fun and it allows all the different skills to come to the table. We have a beautiful ensemble that sounds really great and we’ve got a great little company of dancers.
“And it’s community theatre. Beth and I really believe that when there’s a show that can support (a large cast) like this one, we like to get people involved. That’s an important part of our mission. It’s really great to have them all and they all bring something different, fun and unique to the table.”
Gish has to be a quick-change artist
Both Dunn and Gish praised the work of costumers Kaley Jackson, Bailey Doran and Becky Smith in creating those 247 costumes.
“They make sure we look really, really good, which is awesome,” Gish said. “It’s such a blessing to have people that are crazy talented at what they do.”
Gish wears four costumes in the show and has four quick changes she must pull off, with the help of three dressers.
“They’re all full head-to-toe changes,” she said. “My shoes change, my dress changes, my hair changes, it’s all different. Just like there’s choreography on stage, each quick change is choreographed. We have a plan. ‘You’re going to step into your shoes, and then you’re going to put this on, and then your wig and gloves and then you go.’”
Creating magical moments
Dunn said she’s hands-off when it comes to those quick changes and loves the way the cast takes ownership of what’s happening backstage.
“They really work together to make it happen, because everyone’s so invested in protecting that illusion for the audience and making that magical moment get out there on time.”
And there’s plenty of magic to be had during “Beauty and the Beast,” with its costumes, backdrops, dance numbers and more. There’s even a chance for young audience members to take part in the magic.
“We know there will be some little girls in their Belle dresses or Beast costumes,” Dunn said. “I remember we had a little girl that came as the Beast when we did this show in 2005, which was adorable and left a fun impression on everybody. And we’ll be selling light-up roses in the boutique and we’ll encourage them to turn those on in the entr’acte and enchant the Landers Theatre. It’s always a magical moment.
“I’m excited for (the cast) to have that, because that’s really their reward for all the tremendous hard work that they’ve put in. I can’t wait for them to have that response.”
Tickets selling fast
If you want to be part of that magic, don’t wait too long to get your tickets. Opening night is sold out and as of June 8, a combined seven tickets remained for the Saturday night and Sunday matinee shows.
“It’s selling very well, but there are plenty of tickets available for the second and third weeks,” Dunn said. “We really urge people to get those reservations made.”
Want to go?
What: Springfield Little Theatre’s “Beauty and the Beast”
When: Thursdays-Sundays, June 9-25; Evening shows at 7:30 p.m., matinees at 2 p.m.
Where: The Historic Landers Theatre, 311 E. Walnut St.
Tickets: $17-$37; for tickets call the box office at 417-869-1334, visit the box office in person at 311 E. Walnut St., or go to the Springfield Little Theatre website
For more information: Visit the Springfield Little Theatre website, or find them on Facebook
