Homer, Alaska - Arts

Yes, and Spider Man, Darth Vader and what looks like the Statue of Liberty. It's all part of the magic of the Homer version of the musical version of the Disney interpretation of the classic French fairy tale, "La Belle and le Bete."

Just as in previous Homer High musicals like "Les Miserables," "Guys and Dolls" and "West Side Story," there will be a cast of thousands well, maybe hundreds when "Beauty and the Beast" opens Friday in the Mariner Theatre. The show continues Saturday.

In the Broadway musical version, a pompous prince is enchanted and turned into a hideous beast. If a woman falls in love with him before the last petal falls from a magical rose, the Beast will regain his true form. So powerful is the magic, the inhabitants of the Beast's enchanted castle turn into clocks, flatware, feather dusters and furniture.

In the Homer version, narrator Kristen Tonga explains some new plot twists. Enchantment spreads beyond the Beast's castle and toward a nearby town, turning the villagers into storybook characters and tough punks in leather jackets who snap their fingers.

Director Lance Petersen and musical director Mark Robinson dip into Homer High School's musical talent pool to cast the show: the Swing Choir and Concert Choir, with a little help from their friends.

Lyssa DeVaney stars as Belle, the bookish babe who snubs the swaggering Gaston, played by Miro Schaad. Rounding out the lead roles are Dan McCallum as Belle's father, Mark Walsworth as LeFou, Lauralee Webb as Simone the Broom, Jenny Bitterman as the Magic Mirror, Peter Hendrickson as Mr. Potts, Emily Kizzia as Mrs. Potts, Clara Noomah as Miss Chip, Patrick Schneider as Lumiere the Candlestick, Gillian Beran-Maryott as Cogsworth the Clock, Emmy Olsen as Babette the Feather Duster, Zoe Tollefsrud as Madame de la Bouche the Wardrobe and Ethan Martin as The Beast.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.