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lockportlegend.com life & arts
the lockport legend | June 27, 2019 | 17
Dellwood Park Community Theater stages first play
alex Ivanisevic, Editor
A new Lockport community
theater will take to
the stage for its first time
to present “Beauty and the
Beast.”
The Dellwood Park
Community Theater and
its cast and crew of 17
members has been working
since March to bring
its first play production
to the community. The
play will show at 7 p.m.
this Thursday, June 27
through Sunday, June
30. It will take place at
Lockport’s Performing
Arts Center located at 199
Woods Drive and costs
$8-$10 for Lockport residents
to attend. If there is
bad weather, the play will
be moved to the Township
Building on Farrell
Road.
“I wanted to do a community
theater because we
run the Hayride of Horror
and I have so much stuff
with that including costumes
and props and sets,
and I also have a theater
degree,” Andrea Vaughn,
the creator of the theater
group and director of the
play, said. “So I thought,
“why are we not doing
something like a community
theater with the awesome
location we have in
the [Dellwood] park.”
At the beginning of
the year, Vaughn and Assistant
Director of the
“Beauty and the Beast”
production Ava Johnson
went to Dave Herman the
director of recreation for
the Lockport Township
Park District with the idea
to establish the theater
group.
“We always go to him
with new ideas,” Vaughn
said. Shortly after gaining
approval for the theater
group, Vaughn and
Johnson landed on the
“Beauty and the Beast”
script by Timothy Mason
for the first play they
would produce. They then
put information about the
theater group and their
first play in the park district’s
brochure which
comes out every season,
to try and get the word
out about the play and
auditions, which began in
March and rehearsals in
April.
“There were a lot of
people who came from
other theater groups to the
auditions,” Vaughn said,
it was interesting to see
how people heard about
the play.
Theater member Griffin
Garrett said he had heard
about the theater group
through Vaughn who he
had worked with on other
plays and the Hayride of
Horror in Dellwood Park.
“Andrea said, “Hey guess
what..” and basically that
was how I and a couple
other members got involved,”
Garrett said.
The cast of “Beauty and
the Beast” rehearsed three
times per week for the
play and ranges from age
12 to 50 years old Vaughn
said.
“I really enjoy the story
because “Beauty and the
Beast” is about loving
someone even if society
thinks you shouldn’t and
looking on the inside, love
can conquer anything,”
Vaughn said. “I think
it’s fun and kid-friendly,
something I think the
community will like.”
Johnson added that
something the community
might find unique is that
although “Beauty and the
Beast” is familiar, the production
they are putting
Theater members (left to right) Caroline Duka, Sam Serritella-Smith, Kevin Traynor, Willow Garrett (front), Griffin
Garrett and Jack Williams rehearse for “Beauty and the Beast.” Alex Ivanisevic/22nd Century Media
Main characters (left to right) Caroline Duka who plays Rose/Beauty and Erik Lindblom who plays the Beast.
on is a “non-musical, not
the classic Disney version.”
The two are extremely
excited for the premiere
of the play and to see all
the cast’s hard work pay
off.
“My favorite part of
any production is watching
the people in the production
fall in love with
the process,” Vaughn
said. “At the end of this
I know they are going to
miss it.”