Veritas Christian Academy Sets the Stage for Annual Spring Musical

Each spring Veritas Christian Academy puts on a musical performance that involves the majority of students in the school. From staging to singing to set pieces, the spring musical is more than just a show to entertain audiences. It has become a rallying point for the Veritas community.

Previous performances have included The Music Man, Big Fish, The Lion King Jr. and last spring’s show was Frozen Jr. This spring Veritas will be performing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr. and will be directed by long-time Veritas drama teacher, Sara Bartlett.

While the students have begun rehearsals in preparation for the show, they have also gained insight and inspiration from experts as well. Former Broadway star of Beauty and the Beast, Christopher Monteleone, came to a rehearsal this month to talk with the students about his approach to bringing iconic roles to the big stage. Monteleone played both the Beast and Gaston at various points for the Broadway show.

Recently, Dr. Darren Lawson, Dean of Fine Arts for Bob Jones University, who just finished directing a full scale musical production of Beauty and the Beast at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, visited Veritas to share how he approached prepping for the musical on the collegiate stage. Over the course of five performances, Dr. Lawson saw over 12,000 visitors come see the school’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Lawson shared with the Veritas cast clips from his show to help them visualize aspects of the production and offered insight on making the show a success.

The Veritas spring musical always draws a large crowd and the expectation is that both performances on May 5th & 6th will sell out. The lead roles for the Veritas production of Beauty and the Beast Jr. include senior Abby Hipolit, as Belle; junior Ben Ryan, as the Beast; and junior Gunner Andersen as Gaston.

For more details on the performance and Veritas Christian Academy, visit veritasnj.org.