Disney’s 'Beauty and the Beast' coming to Geyer Performing Arts Center

It’s not every day that actor Brandon Kerr gets excited to be a monster.

But when the opportunity arose to play the role of the Beast in the Geyer Performing Arts Center’s upcoming performance of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” he jumped at the chance.

“I’ve just always felt like it’s a Disney role that I could potentially fit into. It’s not necessarily the handsome, charming prince from the very beginning, so there’s a little bit more sort of leeway for other types of performers to perform the role,” he said.

“It’s fun to play someone who is kind of a villain but kind of not, who kind of has more layers than just the external angry, grumpy temper of the character. That’s kind of what I think made me feel lit was suited for my skillset and my type of performance.”

Kerr will perform as the Beast in the upcoming show, which runs June 20 - 22 at 7:30 p.m and June 22 - 23 at 2:30 p.m.

He enjoys the classical stylings of the Beast role.

“I just think the music is really beautiful in the show, and it’s a great song that he sings that showcases more of a baritone voice, a very legit classically trained kind of a singer, and you don’t find that a lot in modern shows,” Kerr said. “Even though ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is not an old show per se, although it is 30 years old at this point, it’s more of a recent contemporary show that still has a sort of classical sound for that voice.”

Kerr is also serving as co-director, alongside director and costume coordinator Tina Lepidi-Stewart.

“I’m able to sort of balance it because I’m not in a lot of the scenes, even though he is one of the main characters,” Kerr explained. “There are definitely parts where it’s more the Beast’s presence in the castle that is more the character than him onstage actually saying lines.”

This is Lepidi-Stewart’s third time being involved with a performance of “Beauty and the Beast.” Some of her costumes from her first time with the show, when it was performed at Penn-Trafford High School in 2011, have made it to this performance.

“I had borrowed those for our production seven years ago. I’ve borrowed them again — a lot of the ‘Be Our Guest’ (costumes) are my original designs,” she said. “The silverware costumes, they’re silver and blue brocade fabric, with a vest and white underneath them. Each person will carry whatever silverware they are. If they’re a fork, they have a fork they carry and dance with, and if they’re a knife, they have a knife.”

Lepidi-Stewart and Kerr have worked together on performances for several years, she said. He was actually one of her high school students at Norwin. The two later became friends and co-directors.

“We coordinate with our vision, and what we want to see onstage, and we translate that and work with each other and then we put it onstage,” she said. “It’s a big show, I can tell you that. Trying to manipulate both costumes and directing at the same time, that’s a lot of juggling, a lot of balls in the air on that one. I have a really good production team behind me, and they’re very supportive and helpful.”

Tickets for the show at 111 Pittsburgh St. in Scottdale are available online at https://geyerpac.com/.