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OVER THE EDGE
November 7 - 21, 2007

Night at the Theater

Miron GRaAnT

Proto Epiror

A tale as old as time, The Beauty and
the Beast, the Disney masterpiece meant
to teach that beauty lies within and ap-
pearances may be deceiving, was re-
cently preformed by the by the Excalibur
Performers Association. Unfortunately,
if you have not seen it by the time you
are reading this article, you have really
missed out.

I grew up around the stage and the per-
forming arts because of my parents. My
father has run the performing arts centers
in the last two towns I have lived in, and
he worked at the Acadia Student Union
Pub, assisting with talent line ups and
running the sound and lighting. He still
runs the North Peace Cultural Center,
which is currently the number one per-
forming arts center in BC, which says a
lot considering it is located so far north,
receives little funding, and even less in
comparison to the performing arts cen-
ters in Victoria and Vancouver. Having
spent this time around the stage I have
been able to see many shows come and
go, as well as actors and actresses, and had the opportunity to
even be in a few shows. Just recently while I was home I went
to The Beauty and the Beast last Christmas as preformed by
Stage North. I must say, that while I am biased towards my

home town company, their performance did not hold a candle
to what I saw done last night by the Excalibur Performers As-
sociation, which I might add, includes a certain professor from
here on campus, though I won’t name names.

The full Broadway score was performed by a very talented

pit band, making some songs unfamiliar
to those who are much more familiar
with the movie. The play featured the
beautiful Belle, her loony father Mau-
rice, the egotistical and even “prime-
evil” Gaston, and a Beast - which actual-
ly had a mask, instead of painting it on
like Stage North did for their presenta-
tion, giving more life to the face but tak-
ing away from the overall effect - that
could both sing, dance and be ferocious
enough to push Gaston from the tower of
his castle, and all the rest. The cast really
came through to really bring to life this
classic family tale on stage for all those
in attendance.

While the costumes were at times a
little much, interfering from time to time
with Jeremy Coulter’s mike, or making
it apparently difficult to move about on
stage for the different choreographed
scenes, and even (in my opinion) taking
away from the overall enjoyment of the

Courrrsy or Excatisur play at times, it was apparent that much
Beauty & The Beast, the Disney classic, preformed by the Excalibur performance group Was done to bring the Broadway feel of
showed Oct 24-Nov 4.

this famous tale to Prince George, while
the Excalibur group did much to make it
their own as well.

As the night ended, and the final song was sung, the actors
and pit band received a standing ovation for their incredibly
well done job at bringing this tale to life, including from yours
truly.

Today’s post-secondary
students need more than
a minimum wage job.

The BC government's proposed changes to our
post-secondary education system don’t add up.

Students won't get access to the skills and knowledge they
need to get ahead because the government’s Campus 2020
Plan fails to fix the key problems of affordability and access.
Our students deserve better. Their futures depend on it. 99

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

BETTER FUNDING.
BETTER FUTURES.

\\

Tell Premier Campbell to invest in BC’s future.

Ko Federation of

FPSE Post-Secondary Educators