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<p>A brave woman looks past a man&#8217;s fierce exterior to love him &#8212; and, of course, the beastly guy loves her in return.</p><p>Then there&#8217;s a butler who&#8217;s changing into a candle holder, endlessly flirting with a maid who&#8217;s turning into a feather duster.</p><p>But those aspects of &#8220;Beauty and the Beast,&#8221; set to run June 21-30 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, are mere fairy-tale romances.</p><p>For evidence of the real-life version, just look at the set that Bernard Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre built for his wife, Angel Berlane Mulcahy, who is directing the musical.</p><p>&#8220;I would not be doing this if not for her,&#8221; Mulcahy said, taking a short break earlier this week when the set was &#8220;about 80 percent done; with three days left&#8221; to add a faux stained-glass window and paint a forest filled with trees whose reverse side would depict a village.</p><p>While Berlane Mulcahy was reveling in the sight of a majestic castle with a double staircase her husband had already constructed, she said it was especially meaningful that he had built the set at Little Theatre.</p><p>&#8220;We met on this stage, 16 years ago this fall,&#8221; Berlane Mulcahy said. &#8220;I was Ariel in &#8216;Footloose&#8217; and he was my sound guy. My mom was running the light board and she introduced us &#8230; He&#8217;s built for me before, but at different theaters.&#8221;</p><p>So &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; audiences can admire the set that love built &#8212; where they will also hear some ear-pleasing tunes.</p><p>&#8220;I have a few favorites,&#8221; Berlane Mulcahy said. &#8220;There are high energy numbers, like &#8216;The Mob Song,&#8217; where they&#8217;re storming the castle, and &#8216;Gaston,&#8217; where there&#8217;s a lot of clinking of glasses, and I really love the sweet, tender song, &#8216;Home,&#8217; and &#8216;A Change in Me&#8217; makes me cry, every single time.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>&#8220;I love everything the Beast sings,&#8221; she said, noting that Dave Fortin&#8217;s singing voice &#8220;is wonderful.&#8221;</p><p>Fortin, of Kingston, whose voice is classically trained, last appeared at Little Theatre in 2017 as the tenor in &#8220;Lend Me a Tenor.&#8221; He&#8217;s looking forward to portraying the changes the Beast undergoes.</p><p>&#8220;He literally goes from a beast to a human being,&#8221; Fortin said. &#8220;Sometimes there are little nuances, like when (Belle is eating at the dinner table) so delicately and I&#8217;m doing it so aggressively.&#8221;</p><p>Thanks to Belle&#8217;s influence, the Beast improves his table manners &#8212; and a lot more.</p><p>&#8220;He realizes he truly loves her,&#8221; Fortin said, adding that what first impresses the Beast about Belle is &#8220;the fact that she is able to stand up to him.&#8221;</p><p>As for Belle, the Beauty of the title, Lauren Timek, of West Pittston, plays that role and believes the young woman is afraid of the Beast at first &#8220;but she is also extremely brave.&#8221;</p><p>Among the lessons to be learned from the popular Disney story, Timek said, &#8220;First and foremost, beauty is found within and things aren&#8217;t always what they seem. And, with a little bit of kindness, people can change for the better.&#8221;</p><p>Timek has extensive dance training &#8212; she teaches at the Dance Theater of Wilkes-Barre, along with &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; choreographer Gina Malsky &#8212; and said that training comes in handy when Belle&#8217;s unwelcome suitor, Gaston, &#8220;tosses me around onstage.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s really being gentle,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but we have to make it look more physically taxing for the audience.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lauren Timek of West Pittston is the Beauty and Dave Fortin of Kingston is the Beast in the musical &#8216;Beauty and the Beast,&#8217; set to open June 21 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_LTWB-Beast-TL-promo-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lauren Timek of West Pittston is the Beauty and Dave Fortin of Kingston is the Beast in the musical &#8216;Beauty and the Beast,&#8217; set to open June 21 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>On My Cue Photography | Angel Berlane Mulcahy </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_LTWB-Beast-TL-promo-2-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lauren Timek of West Pittston &#8216;looks like Belle from the Disney movie, come to life,&#8217; said Angel Berlane Mulcahy, who is directing &#8216;Beauty and the Beast&#8217; at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_LTWB-Beast-TL-promo-2-.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lauren Timek of West Pittston &#8216;looks like Belle from the Disney movie, come to life,&#8217; said Angel Berlane Mulcahy, who is directing &#8216;Beauty and the Beast&#8217; at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>On My Cue Photography | Angel Berlane Mulcahy </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Beauty and the Beast&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> June 21 through June 30 with shows at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sunday</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $20</p><p><strong>Special tea:</strong> Mrs. Potts will host a tea at the Little Theatre at 1 p.m. June 23, prior to the matinee. Each adult $15 tea time ticket allows two children into tea time for free. Call the box office at 570-823-1875 or see ltwb.org</p></factboxMeta></div>

‘Beauty and the Beast’ on set that love built