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Broadway makes its bow in Indonesia
Extravaganza: The production was extravagant, with organizers bringing almost 600 costumes to Jakarta for the performance
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Extravaganza: The production was extravagant, with organizers bringing almost 600 costumes to Jakarta for the performance.
Marking the first time a Broadway production has been presented in Indonesia, Disney's Beauty and the Beast has come to Jakarta for a run that will end on June 7.
'Two years ago, my company, Broadway Entertainment Group, was set up to bring Broadway shows to new emerging markets around the world, so we are going to theaters and countries that have not had shows before,' Broadway Entertainment Group Producer Dan Hinde said in a recent press conference.
'One of the cities that we wanted to come to was Jakarta, but we knew there was no theater in Jakarta that could take such a big production,' he added.
However, Hinde heard about the 1,200-seat Ciputra Artpreneur Theater, which claims it is the first theater meeting international standards in the nation.
He inspected it a year ago and decided that it could host a Broadway show. Now, Hinde promises that more Broadway shows will come to Indonesia in the future.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast is an adaptation of La Belle et la Bête, a fairy tale written by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1756. It was made into an animated movie in 1991 and three years later, Beauty and the Beast opened on Broadway.
Since its theatrical premiere, more than 35 million people have watched the show, which has racked up US$1.7 billion in revenues over 28,000 performances.
Beauty and the Beast tells the story of Belle, a beautiful young woman from a small town, and Beast, a prince who turns into a monstrous-looking creature after he is cursed by a witch.
The curse can only be broken if Beast can learn how to love and to be loved sincerely in return.
The witch gives Beast a time limit to break the curse ' and if he cannot find true love before then, he will remain a monster forever.
Hilary Maiberger is playing Belle and Darick Pead the Beast for the show in Jakarta. Together, they have performed as their respective characters in more than 700 performances all over the world.
Maiberger, an actress from Yucaipa, California, has extensive experience in theater, performing in several large Broadway productions such as My Fair Lady, where she played Eliza Doolittle, and another Disney adaptation, Aladdin, where she played Jasmine. She has also been involved in operatic performances, such as Don Quixote and The Coronation of Poppea.
Like Hinde, Maiberger said she was also impressed by the Ciputra Artpreneur Theater. 'The show [Beauty and the Beast] looks beautiful in this theater like it was meant to be. It is intimate,' she said.
Pead, who joined the Beauty and the Beast cast in 2012, likes to spend an hour before showtime to meditate. He's previously been involved in the theatrical performances of The Elephant Man, playing Dr. Treves, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, where he played Freddy Benson.
The main cast also includes Adam Dietlein, who will play the antagonist Gaston, Jordan Aragon as Gaston's right hand man Lefou, and two talented child actors ' Charlie Jones and Liam Campora ' who both play Chip, the son of Mrs. Potts, who herself is portrayed by Emily Mattheson.
In a recent preview show for the press, the actors also showed exactly why Broadway production has always been considered as the best by critics for decades.
In a scene titled 'Gaston', the audience was treated to an amazing display of choreography as well as to singing and acting from Dietlein, Aragon and dozens of supporting cast members, who brought a scene from the animated movie to life.
The actors made beats with 36 tin beer mugs that they toasted one another with to create a unique and exciting rhythm with the background music, which was composed by Alan Menken, who has worked for Disney on other projects, such as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
Another scene featured Pead singing 'If I Can't Love Her', showing Beast's emotional turmoil as he realizes that he is in love with Belle and ponders whether she might also love him.
In this scene, the audience is taken into the darkest corners of Beast's palace. It is dark yet at the same time can be enchanting due to the beautifully crafted lighting.
Colorful well-designed costumes, detailed make-up and well-crafted backgrounds and props are the main highlights of the show.
To make these details possible, the Broadway Entertainment Group brought 12 containers of props, including 81 wigs and 580 unique costumes from the US.
Hinde said that the Indonesian audience would be thrilled and satisfied by all the hard work and the massive production logistics.
'It's a spectacle. The scenery is amazing. The cast [and] the performance of the musicians is amazing. It is fantastic. It is a brilliant show. It is a show for people from age five to 105,' he said.
'It's a love story. It's scary. It's fun. It's everything. You will enjoy it.'
Disney's Beauty and the Beast will be presented at the Ciputra World Jakarta Mall's Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in Central Jakarta until June 7. For more information and tickets, please visit kiostix.com.
' Photos by JP/Jerry Adiguna
