Printed from the Review
Disney magic returns to Falls
Posted By JOHN LAW
Another romance. Another Disney classic.
But hardly just another show.
When a $2-million production of “Beauty and the Beast” opens next Friday, it will be the most telling sign yet whether Niagara Falls is ready for big-time theatre. The kind you see in Toronto and New York.
The kind that requires big risks.
For Linus Hand, the show’s producer and co-owner of Silver Mist Productions, there’s no jackpot without gambling. If it clicks, “Beauty and the Beast” may finally silence the cynics who insist live theatre can’t cut it in this city.
“Is there a worry? Without question,” he says. “But what isn’t a risk? What is considered secure any more?”
It helps to have one huge hurdle out of the way. When the company announced it was staging a $1.6-million production of Disney’s “Aladdin, Jr.” at the Greg Frewin Theatre last summer, Hand and business partner Mike Lococo, a Niagara Falls dentist, were nearly laughed out of town.
The show opened in May and ran for 16 weeks. It was so popular, it came back for a Christmas encore.
“I didn’t realize just how much skepticism there would be,” says Hand, a former general manager of the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto.
“Even when work began (there were doubts). There was no question from the arts community … the people it was tough to convince were the locals. Way more than I thought it would be.”
“Aladdin, Jr.” lost money during its initial 16-week run, but turned a profit during the Christmas encore. It sold about 44,000 tickets in total – enough to “get everyone’s attention,” says Hand.
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“Beauty and the Beast” moves to a new location – the spiffed-up Niagara Centre for the Performing Arts, inside Kingston College on Epworth Circle.
General manager Rick Rose says an upgrade for the theatre was “long overdue.” New carpeting, paint, wallpaper and signage will greet visitors.
“It was an overall renovation to make it what theatres look like these days,” says Rose. “It was just a high school theatre. Now it’ll feel like you’re in a real venue.”
At the Sandstone Grillhouse on Victoria Avenue, co-owner Dan Radice can’t wait for a theatre district to pop up. He’s lending his support by offering a dinner/show package for $55 (the show itself costs $52.50 for adults).
Even before “Beauty and the Beast” opens, Hand is thinking about next year. He’s eyeing a stage version of “Footloose” for the spring and the classic “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” next Christmas.
Maybe by then, people will start to believe, he laughs.
“You know, you can tell somebody it’s as good as Toronto or New York … but you have to see it for yourself.”
Beauty and the beast facts
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” opens next Friday at the Niagara Centre for the Performing Arts.
- The musical is based on the 1991 film, which at the time was Disney’s biggest hit in several years. It was up for Best Picture at the Oscars.
- The show has a cast of 25, led by Ashley Taylor (Belle) and Gabriel Burrafato (The Beast).
- Director Raquel Duffy also directed “Aladdin, Jr.,” and next month stars in a production of “A Christmas Story” with Theatre & Company in Kitchener.
- Performances take place in Kingston College’s newly renovated theatre on Epworth Circle.
- Shows run Nov. 23 to Jan. 1.
- Tickets are $52.50 adults, $28.50 children. Phone 905-357-3800.
Article ID# 778698
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