College Street Players present Beauty and the Beast

By Connor Loyd 

Join Hartselle’s College Street Players as they embark on a “Tale as Old as Time” beginning Thursday. The community theatre group will present the classic musical “Beauty and the Beast” at Hartselle High School’s auditorium June 22-25.  

The College Street Players are a local community theater organization located in Hartselle which performs an average of three to four shows a year. This typically consists of a show aimed at young children in the year’s early months, one smaller play and then a larger musical production. 

CSP President and the show’s director Jenny Faulk first decided to direct a production of the musical Beauty and the Beast last summer while directing the play Little Women.  

“It’s just always kind of been on my bucket list of shows,” Faulk said. “I think as directors we all have those shows that we want to do at some point, and I just felt like it was the right time to do it.” The CSP Board agreed, and the organization began to move forward with the idea. 

After the idea for the play had been set, things like scheduling had to be considered. For this production, Faulk wanted to work with older students and even adults, casting most of the principal roles with performers who were college-age and up. Because of this, the scheduling would have to accommodate for their busy lives and various other commitments.  

Location would also play a factor in how the schedule was made, since the high school auditorium they would be using is often a very busy place as well. On top of that, they needed to allow themselves enough time to prepare choreography, create sets and all the other necessities of one of these bigger projects. 

Since the production is a musical, the rehearsal process naturally began with music first. “You want to make sure they know their music, they understand and relate to it, so that they start getting that character and start feeling the emotion of the show,” Faulk said.  

Once the performers have become comfortable with the music itself, they then go into choreography and blocking. For Faulk, this is usually about a seven-to-eight-week process, a surprisingly fast turnaround for a production of this size. She usually tries to have principals come in on one day and large, full ensemble numbers on another. “It’s kind of like a puzzle. You’re putting all the pieces together to make sure that you end up with the finished puzzle,” she added.  

Three members of the principal cast, Bennett Perez, Jackson Little and Libby Lang (who play the roles of the Beast, Gaston, and Belle, respectively), are young actors who have recently begun branching out and seeking more theater opportunities outside of their typical spheres, leading each of them to what is now their first CSP show. 

“The audition process for me was personally very nerve-wracking, because this was my first time doing anything remotely outside of Huntsville, my hometown, CSP included. So, it was really scary, because I didn’t know anyone walking in,” Lang said. 

However, once rehearsals started, Lang and the rest of the newcoming cast found the people at CSP to be very encouraging and kind to them.  

“It’s been a really positive environment,” Lang said. “I can’t remember any time where I felt uncomfortable or unsafe. It’s always been super welcoming, and everyone in the cast and the crew is always there to watch you succeed.” 

That’s not to say that the rehearsal process was always an easy one; as Perez noted, the cast often had to find a way to balance rehearsals with the many other commitments they had on their plate. 

“The rehearsal process for me personally, has been very – I don’t know. It’s been a lot of fun, but I’ve also been doing a lot of other work,” Perez said. “I’ve been doing a lot of other shows, Jackson has as well, so it’s been hard, but I feel like what we have on the stage right now has made it completely worth it, because the show’s really good.” 

Little agreed, noting how the excellent quality of the final product was a result of the welcoming environment fostered by CSP.  

“There’s so much heart put into the show, because a lot of the actors in it are new to CSP, but the CSP people that were here before just opened their arms like it was nothing to them. They immediately accepted them into their family,” Little said. 

Roughly two-thirds of the Beauty and the Beast cast was new to CSP, bringing in people from all over North Alabama including Huntsville, Cullman and New Hope. 

“It wasn’t a lot of our traditional folks that showed up” Faulk said. “It’s not a lot of the ones that we’ve had in the past, which is good for me, because I like to grow CSP, and I want more people in my wheelhouse.”  

Another way CSP is looking to grow is by involving younger students in the production who are passionate about theater.  

“There’s a few young kids here that really have that theater bug, and they’re doing a very good job of watching extremely talented college students and learning and absorbing that,” Faulk said. “Because they are very talented 14–15-year-olds, and they’re just eager to be better and learn, so it’s been a great environment all the way around.” 

Faulk also pointed out that the talent involved goes far beyond those appearing on the stage. “I think people think it’s just the people on the stage that are involved, and there’s so many more,” Faulk said. “That there’s just as many behind the scenes that are involved with lighting and tech and set design and everything else, just as many offstage making the people on stage look amazing. So that’s one thing that kind of gets hidden a lot and doesn’t really get noticed.” 

There will be three evening performances at 7 p.m. and two matinee shows at 2 p.m. Admission is $25 for priority seating, $18 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors and free for children three years old and younger. Tickets are now available at www.collegestreetplayers.org.