ALLISON MILLAR and MEGAN TAKEDA –

CV Student Media –  

Beauty and the Beast is Castle View’s upcoming musical, and the bar has been raised in terms of production of the show, which has also raised standards for funding to cover the costs.

According to Rochelle Walter (director) and Jay McGuffin (orchestra/pit director), no funding from other sources was cut this year– the difference was that they raised their expectations and created a production with much more to it. As a result, putting on a show that met their standards was much more expensive.

“The rights to perform the show are around $3,500. This does not include cost for costumes and set pieces, construction and paint,” said Walter.

Walter and McGuffin mentioned two main factors affecting the amount of fundraising they have done. First, Beauty and the Beast was a musical that needed lots of special effects and features to produce a good show. Some of these included fog machines and a fly system for one of the characters.

Second, some of the theater’s ten year-old equipment was outdated or in need of repair as consequence of age– they started to have to replace the old things that would no longer suffice.

They managed to use the same equipment for a long time, and much of that equipment was breaking or “antiquated”, according to McGuffin.

Individual microphones that cast members had on their cheeks cost around $1000 per mic. Some have broken, and required manual repair.

Other essential equipment that needed replacing after ten years of use included mic cables, stand lights, auxiliary wiring and auxiliary percussion, two keyboards and a new PA mixer ($2400). Sound effects for this show alone cost $400.

Usually, a lot of these expenses were covered by the fundraising that students did. This year, cast, crew, and the pit orchestra fundraised by selling Village Inn pie cards and using the new Snap! Raise fundraiser.

According to the Snap! Raise fundraising page for the musical, the money raised went toward “new lights, speakers, microphones, sound equipment, flying characters, costumes, and the rights for the show.”

McGuffin said that some of the biggest sources of funding were student fundraising and the fees that students paid to be a part of the show.

“In addition, most of our budget comes from ticket sales. This is what we try and count on,” said Walter.

All the people involved in the musicals at CV worked hard for those who come to attend. Get involved by supporting fundraisers and letting friends and family know about Castle View’s amazing performances.

See Beauty and the Beast this week to support CV theater!