Preview of La Belle et la Bête in The China Post!

Arts & Leisure

'La Belle et la Bete' cast excited for Taipei show

By Joy Lee ,The China Post

October 16, 2013, 12:11 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The cast and crew of the upcoming performance of “La Belle et la Bete” (Beauty and the Beast) yesterday talked about the excitement of coming to Taipei to perform at the National Theater Concert Hall between Oct. 18-20.

Storyteller Diane D'Aquila performs in “La Belle et la Bete” in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Yves Renaud)

In reworking this classic tale, renowned drama producers Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon utilized cutting-edge holographic technology to create a virtual reality on stage.

Diane D'Aquila, who plays the storyteller in the show, said that the space of the National Theater Concert Hall is a perfect place for the performance.

“I have played in some huge opera houses in Europe, and we have some large theaters in Canada,” said D'Aquila. “But this one (the National Theater), it took my breath away. It's an extraordinary building.”

Isabelle Painchard, the assistant director of the show, said that the house not only just looks good, but the show will be presented beautifully in the theater.

“We all feel privileged to play in here,” said Vincent Leclerc, the actor who plays the Beast in the show.

Janine Theriault, who plays Belle in the performance, also said that audiences in Taiwan can expect a different version of “Beauty and the Beast,” compared to the Disney version of the story.

“We have taken this story and set it in something between the timelessness and commentary, so a lot of the topics are much more modern compared to other versions of the story,” said Theriault.

The cast also talked about the difficulties in adapting to the visual style of the show, which involves strikingly realistic holograms.

“A lot of my scenes are virtual scenes, which is a quite new experience for me. The challenge primarily is that we do not see the images that the audiences see at all ... so it is very much about memorizing where you are and the space and the relationship to what's going on around me,” Theriault said.

“Most of the plays are about the actors and the playground where they can do whatever they want to do in there. When you do cinema or TV, the actor is one part of the puzzle because you have sounds, coloring, and editing. And this show is like a cinema, the actor is just one part of the results along with projections, the virtual characters, and the sounds,” Leclerc said.

The cast hopes audiences will come to the show to experience the wonder of this reinvention of theater, as well as enjoy a classic story with a modern twist.

The event sponsors will hold a conference at Noise Kitchen at 3 p.m. this coming Saturday, with Taipei Arts Festival director Yi-Wei Keng joining the discussion.