Area Stage Company (ASC) has been around a long time – first established in 1989 by John and Maria Rodaz in Miami Beach. The professional theater company and conservatory subsequently had 12 exciting years at the Riviera Theatre in South Miami and now makes a black box space and new studio their home at Sunset Place.
So, what suddenly makes Area Stage the theater to watch? It’s their son’s directorial forte in reconfiguring established material to present it in an entirely new light – something he’s getting the opportunity to do in a much more high-profile venue at the Adrienne Arsht Center.
Making something old new again is risky business. Traditionalists resist and people never fail to compare the new with the original. But the young Rodaz doesn’t just reprise a known quantity, he twists and transforms it.
Giancarlo Rodaz first wowed many of us with an all-adult cast of Disney’s “Annie” as we began emerging from our COVID shells in August 2021. Their new black box theater was transformed into a Depression-era speakeasy and most of the audience sat at short cocktail tables, frequently hopped on by roving cast members. It was the beginning of his experimentation with immersive theater.
A year later, he went whole hog with this year’s August production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
The production performed to sold-out crowds at the Arsht’s Carnival Studio Theater, which was transformed by set designer Frank Oliva into an amalgamation of a French medieval castle and a small-town 16th-century pub, where dancing on the tables took on a whole new meaning.
“Be Our Guest” was taken very seriously and actors you later saw portraying Gaston, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Maurice or any number of other characters greeted you at the door with an enthusiastic, “Bonjour, right this way.”
Equally curious and delightful were the five rows of long wooden tables where the audience was seated upon entering the theater. Where was the stage? There was none. The audience was the stage – indeed, the whole room was the stage.
When the lights dimmed and the cast came running in, leaping onto the tables, you knew you were in for something special. After spending the first 30 minutes moving your head around 360 degrees, you realized the best approach was focusing on what was in your direct line of sight, while occasionally glance to the other end, lest risking whiplash.
This turned out to be the best approach to enjoy Maxime Prissert’s nuanced performance as the Beast, as well as catch the many ingenious production details linked to Belle’s love for the written word that could only be appreciated in this up-close-and-personal setting.
Prissert was the star of the show, but not because he managed to emote through some garish, beastly costume and layers of prosthetics.
A hunched gait, horns, a mask over the eyes, long bony claws and a gruff bellowing voice successfully created the frightening half man, half animal needed to be convincing. It didn’t take long, though, for Prissert’s Beast to become endearing and his version of “If I Can’t Love Her,” was easily the musical’s most captivating performance of the night.
Belle’s love of literature was magically woven throughout the production. A keen eye close enough to the action allowed you to notice that the shreds of paper streaming from the Beast’s claws came from book pages. Confetti fallen from plates in “Be Our Guest” was also shredded books. Domed plate covers in the same number revealed Belle’s dinner as food tightly wrapped in pages from books.
Even the audience got to play along by holding up books distributed during intermission, so everyone became part of a living library in the scene where the Beast reveals his wonderful literary collection as a gift to Belle.
Another fun aspect of this production was watching the actors who were double cast. Frank Montoto, for example, seamlessly switched from Gaston to Lumiere, which revealed more easily to the audience what these two characters have in common.
The absence of a proscenium stage reduced the impact of “Tale as Old as Time,” but that was a small price to pay for the level of innovation accomplished in this transformed production.
Immersive experiences are all the rage and Area Stage Company has figured out how to capitalize on it by pushing the envelope farther every time.
ASC is the company to watch because Assistant Artistic Director Giancarlo Rodaz is propelling them into the future and he’s taking all of us along for the ride.
Buckle up.
