Mitchell Middle School to bring Beauty and the Beast Jr. to life on stage

MITCHELL — As Mitchell Middle School students worked through their lines and blocking Thursday afternoon at the Mitchell High School Performing Arts Center, characters from the musical “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” such as Belle, Lumiere, Cogsworth and, of course, Beast, begin to come alive on stage. Not far away, Anna Heeren, vocal music teacher at Mitchell Middle School and music director for the musical production, watches closely, excited for the progress the students are making. “I love seeing them start from nothing and then (seeing them put on) a production at the end,” Heeren said recently. Students from sixth, seventh and eighth grade at Mitchell Middle School have been doing just that since September. The 39-person cast has been working for months memorizing lines, learning songs and how to move on stage. And it’s all to bring the musical — in this case a special version designed for younger performers — to the public in Mitchell.

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