Top Story — January: Musical Mentorship

An eager yet shy Sarasota High School student apprehensively raised her hand in the school’s auditorium. After called upon, the student nervously asked the inevitable request. “Could you possibly sing something for us,” the student gingerly asked. The speaker was Broadway’s Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle in Disney’s first smash musical hit in “Beauty and the Beast” and was the longest-running Sally Bowles in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s original production of “Caberet.” Egan grinned and replied, “Only if you sing it with me.” The students erupted in a gleeful roar and Egan began to sing the opening lines of “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” from Disney’s 1997 animated feature “Hercules.”

It’s hard to witness high school students being so enraptured and enthralled with anything as they were to Egan’s every note and story. Egan was in Sarasota this weekend for a performance with the Sarasota Orchestra’s pops concert “Voices of the Movies” on Jan. 16 and 17. The orchestra connected the Broadway star to Sarasota High’s theater teacher Melissa Dweck who was in the middle of production on the school’s spring musical: “Beauty and the Beast.”

“It was my complete pleasure to talk to these kids this morning,” says Egan. “I did a lot of high school and community theater before making it to Broadway.” And Egan’s theatrical tales and tips were planting themselves into the brains and souls of the group of aspiring thespians. Egan answered every question from the curious cast and regaled them with funny backstage horror stories and delights form every aspect of her career.

Such stories told included breaking her arm during a performance of “Beauty and the Beast" as well as her Beast, Terrence Mann, accidentally removing her elaborate wig during the middle of a scene to the horror of the families in the audience. But these funny outtakes were just a small sample of the heartwarming and encouraging advice Egan handed out to the students. From interpreting a character, vocal warm ups, auditioning tips, to the difference between voice over and live acting, Egan stressed the importance of determination and the community of friends that is created with every theatrical production.

“I believe in a whole cast getting together before the show starts,” says Egan. “It takes a connection to make those interactions onstage to be fulfilling and convincing.”

The already formed family of students in Sarasota High’s theater program were drinking up Egan’s every word as they prepare for their own performance of Disney’s “Tale as old as time.”

“It was amazing to hear her talk about the making of the role and the history of the show,” says Rosemarie Adam, a junior who is playing the role of Belle. “Hearing how she created that character that wasn’t an imitation of the Belle from the movie was great.”

Javier Negron, a senior at Sarasota High, and Parker Betts, a sophomore, are the program’s two Beasts for the local production and were bewitched by Egan’s stories. “It was definitely great to hear the Broadway aspect of theater,” says Negron. And as Egan stopped to introduce herself personally to Negron, the young actor asked for a hug from the Broadway musical maven. The two embraced in joy and encapsulated that whole hour master class. A theater veteran passed on her expertise, but more importantly she passed on her love to the next generation of theater artists.