Dear 6-8th grade Drama Parents,
It has been a pleasure to see and hear your children audition for Beauty and the Beast. Your kids have auditioned in every phase of a musical (dancing, acting, and singing) and I hope they have enjoyed it. I know that I have had fun! I wanted to say a brief word about the casting. I have asked two theater colleagues of mine to assist me in this production. They also assisted in auditions. All casting decisions were left to them to make to ensure fairness. I know some of the students very well and some of them I don’t know well at all. With that in mind, it seemed right to leave the casting to people who could put the students on a level playing field. Although I was not involved in the actual casting of the show, I will be involved in every other aspect of the rehearsal process and I am extremely excited about that. I have included a bio for each person working with your kids in a production role. I thought you would like to get to know these people as your children will be spending a lot of time with them. They are a first rate crew and I have worked with them to much success in the past.
Thank you for your time and get ready for a terrific production! If you have any questions please e-mail me at tpaster@optonline.net or call me 973-835-4543.
Thank you, Tom Paster
Denise Higgins-Reagan, Associate Director – Mrs. Regan has been a performer, producer and director/choreographer for the past 30 years. Presently, Denise is the acting coach for the musical theater department at Northern Highlands Regional HS (NJ) and works alongside Mr. Thomas Paster perfecting the musicals! She is a long time performing member of The Village Light Opera Group (NYC), where she was last seen in The Music Man as Marian’s feisty Irish mother, Mrs. Paroo (2008). Off Broadway credits include – Director, 700 Wives an original musical written by Ginger Rieter (Richmond Sheppard Theater, July, 2008). Off-Off Broadway- Director, Beautiful, an original one-act comedy performed for the Bay Ridge One-Act Festival (2008). While living in London, Denise continued her love of theatre having played such roles as Adelaide in Guys & Dolls, Maggie Jones in 42nd Street, and a wacky, gum chewing secretary in Little Shop of Horrors, to name a few. Denise is a member of Centre Stage Productions and The Philbeach Theater Society both in London and Narrows Community Theater in Brooklyn, NY.
Katie Menna, Choreographer – Katie has studied dance 11 years at the Robin Horneff’s Performing Arts Center. She has appeared in numerous musical theatre productions including West Side Story, Footloose, and as the “Meadowlark” in the Northern Highlands Regional High School production of Beauty and the Beast. For her performance, she received a “Helen Hayes Theatre Award” nomination for outstanding dancer. Katie was also the student choreographer for that production.
Thomas Paster, Director – Mr. Paster is the director of choral music and musical theatre at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, NJ. He has also been an adjunct professor of music at Kean University and William Paterson University. As a musical theatre director, he was named “Outstanding Director” from the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey in 2008 and has been nominated numerous times as “Best Director” from the Helen Hayes Theatre Awards. He has conducted several honors choirs and has been the coordinator of the New Jersey All-State music ensembles. Choirs under his direction have performed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Lincoln Center, Disney World, Universal Studios, and various festivals throughout the US and Canada. Mr. Paster is also an active composer. He has composed numerous choral works and children’s musicals. His choral pieces have been performed in schools and church’s, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC. In 2009 Mr. Paster was awarded the Distinguished Music Educator Award from Yale University.
CAST
(in order of appearance)
| Young Prince ............................... |
Lucas Warner |
| Enchantress ................................. | Annie Yost |
| Beast ........................................... | Travis Viviani |
| Belle ............................................ | Marina Paster |
| Bookseller .................................... | Christa Keyzer |
| Baker ............................................ | Kayla Blake |
| Lefou ............................................ | Chris Demetriou |
| Gaston .......................................... | Erik Ludvigsen |
| Silly Girls 1 ................................... | Courtney Periu |
| Silly Girls 2 ................................... | Brooke Stone |
| Silly Girls 3 ................................... | Jessica Strom |
| Maurice ........................................ | Nathanial Narbone |
| Cogsworth .................................... | Nick Thomas |
| Lumiere ........................................ | Brian Vivolo |
| Babette ......................................... | Sarah Levy |
| Mrs. Potts ...................................... | Amber Galway |
| Chip .............................................. | Allison Cappello |
| Madame De La Grande Bouche ... | Kayla Stepanchak |
| Madame D'Arque .......................... | Lindsay DeVore |
| Townspeople and | |
| Featured Dancers ......................... | Natashja Agzna |
| Sarah Anthony | |
| Mohammed Darwish | |
| Jessica Focarino | |
| Jamie Gould | |
| Allison Saraceni | |
| Amy Sloat | |
| Holly Stoker |
Many cast members will double as townspeople for this production.
