The Ranger Online

Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Premiere

Media Credit: Altug Sami Icilensu Theater and speech communication Chair Jeff Hunt listens to student life Director Jorge Posadas about costumes. Posadas originally spent one to two hours every Monday and Friday directing the musical's choreography when production for the play began. He could not calculate how much more time he has spent helping with costumes for the production.

Media Credit: Altug Sami Icilensu Liberal arts sophomore Joseph Travis Urick, playing the mean-hearted Gaston and theater sophomore Joshua Saucedo as LeFou, sing a song in rehearsal.

Media Credit: Altug Sami Icilensu Technical Director Debra Coates fixes theatee freshman Ray Seams' costume back stage before his scene.

The Imperial Ballet had Anna Pavlova, there was Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly of the 1940s musicals, Michael Jackson thrilled audiences with his dance moves in the 1980s and this college has Jorge Posadas, director of student life.

To the surprise of some, Posadas is the dance choreographer of the theater and speech department's production of "Beauty and the Beast, the Musical," which opened Thursday.

Posadas has had an extensive amount of training and has been dancing since he was a small child.

He took classes ranging from tap, ballet, jazz, modern, Spanish, Mexican and ballroom to name some of his training.

"I did a lot of it in college to pay a couple bills," Posadas said.

Posadas taught classes and was part of various performance groups while in college.

When he was an undergraduate at Our Lady of the Lake University, he started his own student organization dedicated to dance.

At St. Edward's University in his hometown of Austin, he began a cultural dance group that toured in Mexico.

Posadas' involvement in the play started from the beginning when director and Professor Paula Rodriguez approached Posadas about doing a musical.

Musicals are generally out of this college's budget beacuse of costumes, music and lights, Posadas said.

"She (Rodriguez) said it would incorporate all majors, including music majors for orchestra, dance and kinesiology for the ensemble, vocal and, of course, theater majors," Posadas said.

Rodriguez suggested a cast of 30 people to Posadas, a cast larger than this college has ever had for a theater production, and the challenge was something Posadas could not turn down.

"With that kind of a pitch, I really couldn't say no," Posadas said.

The production hoped to involve all students on campus, not just the theater and speech department. They wanted to involve more of the community, not just the students at this college.

"Generally, most of the things funded by the student activity fee are for the students only; this was meant for the entire community," Posadas said.

The production has students from international studies to mortuary science, to dual-credit high school students to the moms of students helping with costumes.

"It was big community effort. It was really great to see that type of commitment," Posadas said.

The student activity fee partially paid for the production; the theater and speech department paid the rest.

Posadas' involvement in "Beauty and the Beast" included choreography for the entire play and design and sewing of the costumes for the intricate and complicated musical number "Be Our Guest."

"I started getting a little overambitious in the choreography and then realizing oh, they have to sing and dance at the same time, but I had to make sure that it meets somewhere," he said.

Costumes were not an easy task for Posadas, either.

"We learned very quickly that things we had bought were not going to work out as well as we thought," he said.

The crew, to stay within the budget, began sewing most of the costumes and renting costumes from O'Connor High School.

While making costumes, two of the sewing machines broke down and Posadas literally had to go home and dust off his old machine.

"I can only sew barefoot," Posadas said. "My shoe sits a little higher on the pedal and it is a little harder for me to put pressure on the pedal."

Posadas would walk around the auditorium with either one shoe, or no shoes on during production.

"Costumes were done three days before show time. For me, that is pretty good," he said.

Students never complained about Posadas' bare feet or the hard work he was putting them through with the choreography and sewing of the costumes.

"The students are so talented and so dedicated to this production," he said.

"We didn't have trouble with students being late or missing rehearsals, and I think that just says something about the students we have at SAC."

This production may have had all different kinds of students from dance, to theater to vocal and music.

But the other majors made just as much of a commitment and dedication to the play.

There may be that one mortuary science student, but she is determined to make this musical, Posadas said.

Show times for "Beauty and the Beast" are 8 p.m. today and Saturday and April 10-12 and 2:30 p.m. April 6 and 13 in the auditorium of McAllister.

Tickets are free to district students, faculty and staff with identification, $15 for general admission, $5 for children 12 and under, $10 for seniors (60+), military and all students other than ACCD students.

For more information call the theater and speech communication department at 733-2715.

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