Beauty and the Beast at Daytona Beach's Seaside Music Theater

SMT'S BEAST OPENS NEW CENTER WITH ROAR OF EXCITEMENT

Daytona Beach, FL- The walls are up. The carpet is laid. The seats are installed. The windows are reflecting the glorious Florida sunlight and the peaceful flow of Daytona's Halifax River. The News-Journal Center, Seaside Music Theater's new home, is almost complete. And there is only one thing left to add. You.

The structure, formerly known as the Lively Arts Center will open to SMT audiences on January 27 for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the first production ever in the facility's 850-seat theater. A project years in the making, the Center has grown from a fantastic idea to a striking reality.

Many may wonder why SMT is resurrecting Disney's Beauty and the Beast, originally directed here by Lester Malizia and performed in the summer of 2004. Aside from it simply being one of the BEST critically-acclaimed productions that SMT has ever erected, SMT has several significant reasons for the remount.

First, the final sold-out weekend of the original run was capsized by the sudden onset of Hurricane Charley. Droves of anxious theater patrons lost the opportunity to see the production. SMT received an outpouring of requests to bring it back from those who had purchased tickets that had to be refunded and from those who just simply had not been able to get tickets for the production's sold-out final weekend. SMT wants to make sure these supporters have a second chance to see what everyone was raving about.

Next, Malizia feels that in the new Center, on a brand-new, bigger stage, SMT can bring Disney's Beauty and the Beast to even higher levels of artistic and technical success. Over the past few years, new technologies have surfaced to the show's special effects making the production even more eye-popping. He believes SMT audiences, whether they saw the original production or not, should brace themselves for a spectacle like no other they have seen here previously.

Finally, and most importantly, SMT wants to please its audience. SMT wants to ensure that a first experience in its new home simply blows your mind. This show will do this. And with the award-winning talent of SMT's artistic staff for the production, including Malizia, Choreographer Donna Drake, Set Designer Ken Goldstein, Costume Designers Brian O'Keefe and Stacey Galloway, Lighting Designer Annmarie Duggan, and Sound Designer Jason Hoffman, you will definitely be amazed.

Returning favorites from SMT's original production don't hurt either. They include Michelle Knight as Belle, Ben Franklin as Lumiere, James Haase as Gaston, Nicholas Wuehrmann as Cogsworth, Mark Catlett as Le Fou, David Schlumpf as D'Arque, and Danielle Amols as Chip. Exciting new additions to the cast include Jason Dula, who most recently appeared here as Younger Brother in Ragtime and starred as Cain in Children of Eden, as Beast, and longtime SMT actress Lourelene Snedeker, who appeared as Fanny in the past summer's The Royal Family, as Mrs. Potts. Snedeker also starred in the 2004 production of Annie as Miss Hannigan. SMT's own Gary Cadwallader will take on the role of Maurice, Belle's eccentric but loving father.

One of the most important themes of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is to love someone or something for what's on the inside not on the outside. As you drive by, it is clear to see that the News-Journal Center is a beautiful architectural structure that enhances the Downtown Daytona Beach area aesthetically. Now, we invite you to be amongst the first ever to take a look on the inside and see what really makes the Center extraordinary.

See Seaside Music Theater's production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast January 27 through February 5^{th at the News-Journal Center, located at 221 N. Beach Street. Be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience.}

Tickets for Disney's Beauty and the Beast can be purchased now by calling 386-252-6200 or visiting the existing SMT Box Office at 176 N. Beach Street (SMT Downtown). Adult ticket prices are: Class A - $45; Class B - $40; and Class C - $38. Youth (under 18) tickets are $20. Student (w/college I.D.) tickets are $22. For information on how to obtain tickets to the Center's January 27th Opening Night Gala, please call 386-267-1520.

Find out about special group discounts available for groups of 20 or more by calling Group Sales Manager, Lou Veres, at 386-681-2356.

Subscriptions are also now available for purchase for SMT's 2006 Summer Season, which will include Jesus Christ Superstar, Three Penny Opera, Singin' In the Rain, A Little Night Music, and Sisters of Swing. 2006 Summer Subscriptions are $155 for adults, with youth and student discounts available. Next summer's Theater for Children production will be A Year With Frog and Toad.

ABOUT SEASIDE MUSIC THEATER - Visit www.seasidemusictheater.org  for more! Founded in 1977, Seaside Music Theater is now in its 29th year as a professional theater and has become an integral part of our area's cultural heritage and looks forward to kicking off its 30th Anniversary year this January. Recently voted "Florida's Best Professional Theater" by Florida Monthly Magazine, SMT is the largest professional theater within a 100-mile radius and the only major resident musical theater company in the Southeast.

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