Disney claims, "Beauty and the Beast" is "the most beautiful love story ever told."

The O'Neill Community Theater had a busy summer with practices, and was rewarded by crowds supporting performances of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," Sunday, July 17 and Monday, July 18, in O'Neill.

The North Central Nebraska Arts Council chose "Beauty and the Beast" to be performed during O'Neill's Summerfest celebration. Two Summerland English teachers fell into the roles of being directors for the musical.

"I was asked to be the director 7.5 hours before the first audition," Julie Harley said. "It was my last day of school with students."

While the end of the school year is already busy for teachers, Harley accepted the position of casting director and was looking for some assistance.

"When I accepted the position of casting director, I popped in next door and asked if Katie (Schneider) would consent to assisting," Harley explained.

Schneider recalled the moment Julie came into her classroom.

"When Julie asked for my help, I think I was a combination of hesitant and also excited about the idea," Schneider said. "Taking on a big project at the tail end of the school year is a little overwhelming, but I love working in a theatre production, and I love so many people that were going to be involved, so it was an easy yes for me."

Twenty-five people auditioned for the musical. Auditions included a prepared song and a monologue.

The group ended up adding six extras to the original cast because more people were needed for the larger crowd scenes, with a total of 50 people involved with the program, including two Summerland students.

"My English teachers are both coaches, so they asked me if I'd be willing to be an extra in the play since I can't have a big role because I haven't graduated yet," explained Adrienne Parker, a senior at Summerland.

Talya Nilson, a sophomore at Summerland, was also involved with the musical.

"I was super nervous going there for the first few times, but after a while I was perfectly fine," she said. "Everyone there was so nice, and they all helped each other out. Everyone cared for everyone. It was definitely worth doing and I'm glad I did it!"

Official practices for the show started Tuesday, May 31. In the beginning, practices took place on Monday and Thursday evenings for two hours, but once it got closer to show time, Tuesday evenings were added each week.

"The whole cast and crew put a ton of time and effort into this production and it was often crazy, sometimes frustrating, but the very best kind of both," Schneider said. "It's a super rewarding process, watching ideas and words on a Page come to life. It takes a lot of people and creative energy to make that happen."

Both Harley and Schnieder said this musical differed from one-act and speech with the fact that the musical was mostly adults. High school students could be part of the cast, but only adults could hold major speaking roles.

There were still some challenges that came along with this production, including illness, gas prices, schedules, getting the set and costumes together, the musical director no longer was going to be a part of the project, and the fact that Harley was unfamiliar with the show.

"I didn't know this show at all," stated Harley. "Katie dug into her childhood CD collection and I have listened to that daily all summer long."

Overcoming the challenges, everyone involved with the show mentioned how talented the cast and crew were and what a great experience this has been.

"Actors and crew members involved are selfless and self-motivated individuals who are not intimidated when it comes to putting their ideas out there and implementing them," said Harley. "At times, I felt superfluous, but I am honored to have been asked for my opinion and feel blessed to have been invited to be a part of this production."

All the hard work paid off when the audience followed the "Be Our Guest" lyrics with a large turn out to support the performance.

"Both shows pulled in a great crowd," said Schneider. "The community really showed up for us and it was so cool to see a packed house both days."

The Summerland teachers enjoyed working with each other in and out of school.

Courtesy Photo

Summer fun • Actors perform a scene from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," in O'Neill during Summerfest. Summerland School senior Adrienne Parker (center) was one of two Bobcat students in the play. Summerland English teachers Julie Harley and Katie Schneider directed the production.

"It's been fun!" exclaimed Schneider. "Julie and I work a lot together during the school year and through speech season, so it honestly just kind of felt like a continuation of that."

Harley added, "We are a good balance of stressed out (me), and everything will be fine (Katie). Sometimes you just need to hear that."

Both directors thanked everyone involved with the play.

"Thank you to everyone who put in time, work, or sat in our audience the past couple of days," Schneider said. "Supporting the arts in our communities is so important and makes such a huge difference for the talented people around us, and I'm very grateful we have the opportunity to do that in rural Nebraska. It's been a gift, truly."