Posted: March 4, 2022
HIU will stage public performances of Disney’s hit Broadway musical Beauty & The Beast at 7:00pm on April 1, 2, 8, 9* in our Pacific Auditorium. The talented cast includes HIU students and alumni representing a broad spectrum of academic programs and disciplines.
This musical marks the 15th year that alumna Ember Williams (BM ‘00) has directed HIU’s annual performances. The musical has become a popular annual event for the local community as well as alumni and friends of the University. Each year, HIU also hosts special matinee performances for local elementary, junior high, and high school students, which includes a meet and greet with the cast.
Beauty and the Beast is based on the on the 1991 animated Disney film, which was adapted from the French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. A wandering enchantress transforms a cruel and vain prince into a hideous Beast, leaving him only one way to reverse the curse - fall in love with another and earn her love in return. Belle, a beautiful book-lover, encounters the Beast when she arrives at his castle to plead for her father’s freedom, ultimately trading her own for his. As tension over her imprisonment escalates in the town, spurred by Gaston, the selfish lover who seeks Belle’s hand in marriage, the relationship between Belle and the Beast grows, leading to an emotional, and transformative, conflict.
//
