Cathy Dobson Most thespians will tell you they get an unparalleled thrill when they perform onstage. But for Theatre Sarnia’s Erin Innes the feeling goes well beyond that. “Normally, I am a really shy person,” says the 26-year-old.
Cathy Dobson
Most thespians will tell you they get an unparalleled thrill when they perform onstage. But for Theatre Sarnia’s Erin Innes the feeling goes well beyond that.
“Normally, I am a really shy person,” says the 26-year-old. “But I learned when I was small that when I’m on stage, it draws me out and I feel like a different person.”
As a little girl, she loved performing so much that she took dance and singing lessons, eventually deciding to “break out of (her) comfort zone” by going to Brockville’s St. Lawrence College to study musical theatre for three years.
The first musical production she auditioned for at college was Disney’s much-loved Beauty and the Beast. She surprised herself by winning the lead role of Belle, the beautiful and intelligent young woman who attempts to rescue her father from a mysterious castle and finds the owner a bitter and frightening beast.
“I got the lead and I just couldn’t believe it,” said Innes. “I knew I liked to dance and it turns out I am a pretty good actor too.”
After graduation, she had hoped to pursue a career in theatre but Covid-19 hit and, instead, Innes came home to Sarnia where she is reprising her role as Belle in Theatre Sarnia’s upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast.
“This is very cool,” Innes said. “It’s been three years since I played Belle at college and I am very excited to do it again.”
Theatre Sarnia’s Beauty and the Beast is an elaborate version of the smash-hit 1991 animated film. Props are extravagant, according to Innes, with an axe that seemingly chops on its own, a mechanical rose, a mirror that appears to perform magic, and a working fountain.
Costumes for the leads are rented to create a world where the family classic comes alive, says Brent Wilkinson, a Theatre Sarnia mainstay who plays the Beast and spends considerable time onstage in a very large, rather intimidating furry outfit.
Like Innes, this isn’t Wilkinson’s first time performing in Beauty and the Beast. In a production staged by Theatre Unlimited in Mississauga, he once played the role of Gaston, a character who competes for Belle’s affections.
Being the Beast this time is a welcome challenge, said Wilkinson.
“This material is so well known, we want to give people what they expect but also something fresh. And that’s a fine line to walk for sure.”
So aside from his Beast being short-tempered and a bit scary, Wilkinson said Sarnia audiences will also discover the Beast’s “dorkier” side that Belle falls for.
Tickets are selling quickly and were already 70% gone by early November.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Theatre Sarnia’s Beauty & the Beast family musical
WHEN: Nov. 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. The matinee is a masked patron performance.
WHERE: Imperial Theatre, 168 North Christina St.
TICKETS: Go to www.imperialtheatre.net or call the box office at 519-344-SHOW (7469)
