A battle of good versus evil is being waged on the stage of the Bayfield Performing Arts Center.
Students actors with the Bayfield High School Theatre are performing their last show of the season – Disney’s “Descendants: The Musical,” and if you didn’t have a chance to catch it last weekend, the troupe will hit the stage tonight and Saturday for their final two performances.
If you go
WHAT: Bayfield High School Theatre presents Disney’s “Descendants: The Musical.”
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
WHERE: Bayfield High School, Performing Arts Center, 800 County Road 501, Bayfield.
TICKETS: $12 adults, $10 students and staff members. Available at the box office or online at https://tinyurl.com/2b9kacyb.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://tinyurl.com/2b9kacyb.
“Changes are afoot in the kingdom of Auradon. Here, all of Disney’s favorite heroes and heroines are living in peace, happily ever after,” according to a synopsis at StageAgent.com. “Meanwhile, the evil villains and troubled sidekicks have been banished to the Isle of the Lost, where they are stripped of their magic and powers. Ben, the beloved son of King Beast and Belle, is about to be crowned as King of Auradon and he has a radical idea. He decides to invite four trouble-making offspring of the most wicked villains to take their places as students at Auradon Prep. Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos – the children of Maleficent, Grimhilde, Jafar and Cruella De Vil – come to Auradon with an evil plan of their own. They have been tasked with stealing the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand and restoring their parents to power. However, will they go through with the plan?”
“Descendants: The Musical” is based on the three Disney Channel movies from 2015, 2017 and 2019, and, according to Playbill, the films were directed by Kenny Ortega and featured actors including Kristin Chenoweth, Cheyenne Jackson and Dove Cameron.
The show explores the theme of good versus evil, but also that we’re more than the labels that are placed on us; that inside of fighting, we should be lifting each other up, and finding a place to belong, said Sarah Ripley, theater director.
She said there 30 students who make up the cast and crew for the production. One of the challenges of staging a show in a small town like Bayfield, is because the students are involved in a number of extracurricular activities, being able to be flexible with everyone’s schedules can be difficult. But, she said, everyone is dedicated to the production – and each other.
“The kids have been so creative, and we’ve lifted each other up,” Ripley said. “I also teach special education, so I just really promote and model equity and inclusivity into my program.”
“Descendants” also offers a bigger lesson that Ripley hopes audience members will take to heart after the show is over.
“No matter what division or whatever polarized views we may have, we can always come together,” she said. “The last title of the song is called ‘Better Together.’ And we really are truly better together, and we can break down the walls of hate and division and labels and agree on some things and be imperfectly perfect.”
katie@durangoherald.com
