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After a massively successful sold-out run in 2022 at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s intimate Carnival Stage Theater, Area Stage Co’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” returns for a second engagement in 2023. While “immersive experiences” are the buzzword du jour on the streets for everything from the multiple Van Gogh rooms to the various Museums of Ice Cream, director Giancarlo Rodaz and crew were tasked with elevating the experience on the return of their Carbonell Award winning run. Based on the 1991 film of the same name, the show was Disney Theatrical Productions original foray into adapting their beloved movies into stage productions.

To say that Area Stage Company’s immersive reimagining of Beauty and The Beast took the South Florida theatre world by storm may be a bit of an understatement. Along with earning rave reviews across the board and picking up several major awards including a Silver Palm and 4 Carbonells, the show sold out the entirety of its six week run last August. Demand for tickets remained high enough at the show’s close to warrant its current return engagement, which has also been selling out the majority of its performances.  

On what is in many ways a typical Wednesday evening at Area Stage Company’s Sunset Drive headquarters, showtunes seem to be emanating from every corner and posters from productions past attest to a decades-long history. Actors of all ages and abilities stream constantly in and out of various classrooms and studios, who may be attendees at one of three separate classes going on or hail from one of two separate rehearsals.

Community outreach has always been a core tenet of Area Stage Company’s theatrical philosophy, which is why we host productions that enrich the lives of both our actors and our audience. Theatre should be available to everyone and that is why our Inclusion Theatre Project is so important to us. ITP has given us a chance to engage with audiences and actors who wouldn’t normally take the center spotlight!