Jasmine Song, special to wtop.com
WASHINGTON — A tale as old as time, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” would not be the enchanting story we know today without the charming yet boorish Gaston.
In the original film’s Broadway adaptation, Tim Rogan, 24, plays the egotistical villain on the show’s national tour that will play at the Wolf Trap Filene Center from June 6 to June 8.
Rogan, a native from Potomac, Md., grew up watching the movie since it’s release in 1991.
“It’s one of my favorite movies in addition to being one of my favorite Disney films,” Rogan says. “[I] grew up watching this part and learning this part and listening to Richard White do Gaston in the film…he’s just so spot on and perfect and then 20 years later [I] get to take a crack at it.”
Rogan began rehearsals in New York back in late august into September, when the show officially opened in Tennessee.
“We’ve basically been out on the road for the past nine months,” Rogan says. “I kind of took to the road life a lot better than I even anticipated I would, so it’s been great.”
From sleeping in hotels and tour buses to traveling from place to place for months straight, Rogan explains being a Broadway performer can definitely be an unconventional job.
“You’re performing this show at night, but then you’re working on this show during the day…and then depending on what’s going on you might be trying to squeeze in a day job at the same time,” Rogan says. “You’re holding down anything from two to three jobs at once, so when you’re just out on the road all you got to worry about is just this show, this one part, this one track, and I feel very fortunate to just be able to be that focused on one thing.”
The show, which has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary on Broadway back on April 18, promises to stay true to the original storyline with a few minor enhancements including a new song, “Me” which is not in the original film.
“I actually tell people that I think this show does a good job of enhancing the story that you’ve got on the film instead of changing things unnecessarily and detracting from what the source material was,” Rogan says. “A lot of times people will take something and try to change it to make it better and I’m like you kind of made it worse.”
While the show is a non-equity version of the Broadway original, audience members will still recognize the music and the story.
“The original creative team is still very much involved with the process of the show,” Rogan says. “Instead of it necessarily being a revival…the guys that are all part of the original creative team that opened that show on Broadway, this is their baby.”
Ever since his first visit to the Wolf Trap as an elementary school student, getting the opportunity to perform at the performing arts venue for the remainder of the tour is what Rogan calls an “awesome homecoming.”
“It’s like this light at the end of the tunnel,” Rogan says. “There is this photo of my dad and I on my desk of me at Wolf Trap some 15 years ago and so I’ve seen shows there my whole life…to then come back and actually perform on the other side of the stage is really kind of cool and poetic.
Rogan says he will be spending the summer in New York after the “Beauty and the Beast” tour and then continue his musical journey on the Camelot national tour to play Lancelot next year.
“The show means so much to us that we go out there and everyone gives it every single night, it’s like reacquainting yourself with an old friend,” Rogan says. “Everyone that comes back and sees this, they’re like wow I forgot how much I loved this.”
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