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DIVA TALK: Chatting with Light in the Piazza’s Katie Clarke and Beauty and the Beast’s Ashley Brown
By Andrew Gans
27 Jan 2006
Despite this short rehearsal period, her first performance — viewed by her family, the On the Record cast and several Disney executives — was “amazing. I was like, ‘I want to remember this. I don’t want it to be an out-of-body experience.’ My opening night was my first night with lights, first night with orchestra, first night with sound. I had been in costume before, but I had never been in costume with everybody else in costume. My put-in rehearsal, I was the only one all Belled up! Everybody else was in jeans. . . . The cast was so great, and I just trusted them so much I knew that if I slipped up, they would be there for me, so that pressure was off. Deep down, I knew that I knew [the role], and I knew I’d be fine. The show is so well written that it was so easy to memorize.”
Brown says her favorite moments onstage include singing “Change in Me” and dancing up a storm in the “Be Our Guest” production number. She also is especially fond of the reactions of the young children, who make up a large portion of the Beauty audience. “They get so involved,” Brown says. “We call them Belle screamers! As soon as I’m lit up in the very beginning, they’re like, ‘Ah, Belle, over here, Belle.’ They think I’m going to be able to stop and [say], ‘Hey, what’s up?’ Obviously I can’t, and it’s just so funny. Whenever I ask questions, they answer them for me. I’ll say, ‘Who’s there?,’ and they [answer], ‘It’s the Beast, it’s the Beast!’ They definitely get really involved!”
Brown believes the show’s longevity — Beauty and the Beast is now the sixth longest-running show in Broadway history — is due to the fact that it “caters to every age and every different type of person. I know it’s one of the quotes on the side of our building, but I really think it’s true. It’s something that the kids will enjoy and the parents will enjoy, too, because there are mature jokes that won’t offend the children. We’re all dressed up, and there’s candlesticks — that will entertain any child!”
The young performer, who began singing in church when she was six, names Academy Award winner Julie Andrews as a particular inspiration. “I watched all of her movies,” Brown says, “and sometimes I would sing in an English accent when I was little. My mom would be like, ‘What are we going to do with this child?’” Brown began studying voice during her freshman year of high school. “That was the same time I did my first musical,” she adds. The role? Tiger Lily in Peter Pan. It wasn’t until she attended the Broadway Theater Project in Tampa, FL, however, that she realized acting would be her career. “Ann Reinking [runs the project]. I was taking dance classes with Gwen Verdon, Gregory Hines — these huge people would come and teach these workshops. It was just for three weeks, and you had to audition to get in. . . You’d take classes all day, put together a show at night and perform the show at the end of the three weeks. It was then that I realized that this is exactly what I want to do. I loved the intense classes — the acting, singing and the dancing. That’s when it came together for me.”
During college she had the chance to play a wide variety of roles — Maria in West Side Story, Cunegonde in Candide and the title role in Violet — all of which she enjoyed but none so much as playing Belle in Beauty. In fact, Brown, who is scheduled to stay with the show until May, hopes she will be able to extend her contract. “Unless they make me leave,” she says, “it would take a huge, huge other opportunity to make me leave. It’s such a rewarding show for me, and the cast is amazing. I truly look forward to going to work.”
[Beauty and the Beast plays the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway and 46th Street. Call (212) 307-4747 for tickets.]
DIVA TIDBITS
How exciting that Julia Murney will finally get the chance to wrap her rich, rangy alto around Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked score. Murney, the Wild Party actress who made her Broadway debut earlier this season in Lennon, will replace Stephanie J. Block as the green-faced Elphaba in the national tour of Wicked beginning March 8. That day will also see the arrival of Alma Cuervo as Madame Morrible, P.J. Benjamin as the Wizard and Jennifer Waldman as Nessarose. On March 28, when Wicked begins its run at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, K. Todd Freeman will assume the role of Dr. Dillamond. The company also features Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Sebastian Arcelus as Fiyero and Logan Lipton as Boq.
A Cabaret Performance: Barbara Cook and Elaine Stritch “In Alphabetical Order” is the title of a Feb. 27 benefit concert featuring the two Tony-winning theatre legends. Lincoln Center Theater’s Annual Benefit will be held at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Jack O’Brien will direct the 7 PM cabaret, which will be followed by dinner on the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall. Individual tickets are priced $1,250 and $2,500 with tables of ten priced $12,500, $25,000 and $50,000. For more information call (212) 501-3251.
MAC Award winner Lisa Asher will return to The Duplex Cabaret Theatre for a special Valentine’s Day program Feb. 14 at 8:30 PM. Asher will perform tunes by Don Henley, Janis Ian, Jule Styne and Michael Smith, and she will also be on hand after the show to autograph copies of her new CD, “Lisa Asher: Live at the Duplex.” The Duplex is located in Manhattan at 61 Christopher Street. There is a $25 cover charge and a two-drink minimum; call (212) 868-4444 for tickets.
Singer Joanne Beretta, who years ago appeared in Tommy Tune’s Obie Award-winning Off-Broadway production The Club, will make her long-awaited return to the New York cabaret scene next month at Danny’s Skylight Room. Beretta, who is being presented by Angels in America Tony nominee Kathleen Chalfant, will perform at the intimate club Feb. 3, 10 and 17 at 7 PM. About Beretta, Chalfant said in a statement, “I’m delighted to reintroduce Joanne to music lovers in New York City. She is one of the most remarkable singers and storytellers I’ve ever heard.” Cabaretgoers can expect to hear Beretta’s renditions of “Since You’ve Asked,” “For All We Know,” “My Favorite Year,” “Just Like a Woman” and “Rocket Man.” Danny’s Skylight Room is located in Manhattan at 346 West 46th Street. There is a $15 cover charge and a $12 minimum; call (212) 265-8130 for reservations.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
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