Caption: Drama students listen to Mr. Wesley during drama class on August 21st, eighth period. [Picture courtesy of @paca_hs_drama]
by Mariana Helfer (Warrior Post Reporter / São Paulo, Brazil)
Wesley Penteado, the drama teacher of PACA, announced his final casting decisions on Monday, August 21 during his 8th period class as students continue rehearsals for the upcoming December production of the play of “Beauty and the Beast.”
The process in which members were cast had considerable challenges for Penteado due to the length of the performance and the amount of musical numbers included.
This year’s play was chosen from the many options available, said Penteado. One reason he believed it was an ideal performance at PACA was because of its perfect fit for the bigger number of students projected to join his class this year, as well as it being appealing for all the PACA community, from elementary to high schoolers.
With about 42 students participating in the drama class, this is nearly half of the 88 current total number of high school students enrolled at PACA. The casting decisions were very challenging, with a lot of “good and gifted students,” according to Penteado, but he senses that the class seems satisfied with the final casting decision.
Based on feedback from some of the students in the class, there is a lot of excitement about the roles that have been chosen for them, even for those who were not cast for the character they had auditioned for.
The decisions for each cast member was made by looking at the bigger picture, to make sure that all cast members can work together in harmony, Penteado said.
The first two cast choices were made a week prior to the main cast, as the main characters of Belle and Beast are central to the play. This year’s play will feature senior Clarice Penteado as Belle and senior Leonardo Pedroso as Beast.
For a full listing of the cast and crew members, please go to this link: B & B Full Cast List
There will be other challenges for the production this year, said Penteado. He explained that the production of this play is going to be harder for students and teachers alike compared to last year. Divided into two acts, the play has a total running time of two hours. It also has a lot of musical numbers that will take a lot of time and dedication from the students and teachers.
The majority of the rehearsals will take place during the 8th period Drama class, with additional practice time to be added later into the semester when needed.
The play will take place on Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2.
