Quarantine or no quarantine, the Young Artists of America invite you to “Be Our Guest.”
The nonprofit will present a virtual performance of “Beauty and the Beast” on June 12.
“For almost two years, we’ve been planning a big celebratory production,” YAA artistic director Rolando Sanz told WTOP. “It was originally scheduled for the middle of March, so we auditioned our students back in the fall, we cast the show, we had our symphonic orchestra in place and we had our guest chorus from a local high school in place.”
The original plan was to host a live performance at Strathmore with a special appearance by Alan Menken, who wrote the beloved Disney songs with late partner Howard Ashman.
“His music is such a part of our music community and in our minds for all of us growing up with him being the soundtrack of our lives,” Sanz said. “He actually was scheduled to come … be a part of the final days of rehearsal and attend the performance. He was also going to perform on stage at the end with the kids, along with the VIP reception.”
When coronavirus hit, YAA was heartbroken to cancel the event, but Menken stepped up.
“We wanted to be sure that the opportunity was not lost just because we’re homebound,” Sanz said. “Alan very graciously agreed to do a Zoom call with our kids. … He showed the kids his Oscars and his Tony Award and he played for them on the piano from his studio and really gave them insights as to how a show like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ came together.”
Inspired by Menken, YAA decided to remotely record a cast album with the students.
“Our orchestra is currently recording some of the tracks, and our singers are using all sorts of online technologies so the kids can record from home,” Sanz said. “The goal is to have a cast album of the music from the show that they’ve been working on since December.”
They even have a special voice recording the fairy tale narration to kick off the album.
“We had invited months ago Diane Rehm from NPR to record the opening narration,” Sanz said. “She was gracious enough to do that before all of this happened. The goal was to actually have her voice played at Strathmore while the orchestra was playing the overture. … She has graciously agreed to allow us to use the narration for this album.”
Thankfully, Disney is also being flexible with the music licensing.
“The licensing company has been very generous,” Sanz said. “In order for the performing arts to continue, they’re really working hard with their owners and content creators to try to make this possible. All of that is still in the works, but we’re hoping it’s going to be a go.”
The cast album is also great practice before the live virtual performance June 12.
“Our cast is going to come together in a giant Zoom call and do a live reading of the dialogue,” Sanz said. “As the songs fall into place during the show, we will do a premiere of this cast album. Our hope is … to put this out there on Facebook Live or YouTube Live.”
Costumes will be provided by renowned Chicago designer Travis Halsey.
“We actually had rented some of the most gorgeous costumes [and] we actually still have them in storage,” Sanz said. “The kids have had all their fittings, … so our hope is to be able to, at some point, sneak back in and at least get photos of the kids in costumes.”
The cast is made up of 75 students from around the D.C. area, with Belle attending high school in Montgomery County and the Beast hailing from Frederick County, Maryland.
“We pull kids from all over the DMV,” Sanz said. “Some kids drive over an hour and a half each way when we’re in person session to come to these rehearsals a few times a week. …These kids are really all the hot shots from their own schools. We’re very fortunate that the talent runs really deep, which of course makes casting our shows very complicated.”
In addition to local actors, YAA also brings in local musicians for their performances.
“We have our own symphonic orchestra,” Sanz said. “Everything that we do … is accompanied by at least a 54 to 60 piece symphonic orchestra all made up of students.”
The nonprofit was founded in North Bethesda in 2011 by Sanz and his brother Kristofer.
“Our mission is to figuratively and literally help kids find their voice whether it’s on their violin, whether it’s their singing voice, whether it’s their speaking voice or whether it’s expressing themselves through dance,” Sanz said. “We want to give kids a high quality platform to find a form of expression, and we do it through the vehicle of musical theater.”
They’ve built such an impressive institution that huge celebrities are happy to participate.
“We’re really proud of the fact that we bring in people like Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and Jason Robert Brown, these amazing guests, mentors from Broadway,” Sanz said.
After “Beauty and the Beast,” YAA will next go virtual with its annual summer program.
“We are pivoting to a virtual summer camp where we believe we’re going to be the first in the nation to put on a digital musical this summer,” Sanz said. “During a two-week session, kids that register for our conservatory program are going to audition, rehearse, videotape and professionally produce a musical video that we will have a watch party for at the end.”
He feels it’s important to stay creatively proactive in the face of tragic world events.
“The alternative is just sit back and wait and feel sorry for ourselves,” Sanz said. “That’s not what our kids need, that’s not what our family needs and I don’t think that’s what the world needs. … Performing arts specifically are such an important way to communicate empathy and to bring beauty to the world. Right now, the world really needs it.”
