Alana Tranter's Beauty and the Beast experience has been a coming of age for the Novocastrian actor and singer.
She played the role of Belle in a high school production of Beauty and the Beast and is now enjoying a six-month run as Madame in Disney's Beauty and the Beast The Musical at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney.
It's her first principal role in a major musical.
"I started at St Philip's Christian College in Waratah in year 9 because they always did such amazing musicals," she told the Newcastle Herald.
"In year 12 we did Beauty and the Beast at the Civic Theatre and I was Belle.
"Madame is my first principal role in a major musical so it feels pretty special that it's happened on this particular show. It's like I've come full circle, in a way."
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Audiences might recognise Tranter from the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical Come From Away which was met with standing ovations at the Civic Theatre earlier this year. She was a stand-by on that tour and required to memorise every line for five of the six female characters but ended up "having a really good run" in her home town of Newcastle.
"I am very grateful to be out there on stage every night for Beauty and the Beast," she said.
"I don't have to worry about telling Newcastle family and friends 'I might be on this night, so book tickets for that date'. It's nice to be able to say come whenever and you're guaranteed to see me.
"It's a very different experience than Come From Away - both productions are challenging but equally rewarding."
She says she had one day off when Come From Away concluded, then spent a day driving from Adelaide to Sydney before "going straight into rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast".
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Logistically, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is huge.
The Australian production has a cast of 34 and a backstage crew of 77, 300 costumes and 80 tonnes of scenery and automation. Twenty-three eight-tonne trucks were required to transport the set to the Capitol Theatre for the Australian premiere. Thirty tonnes of scenery and 50 tonnes of automation and staging were unpacked and built to recreate the French provincial town, including the forest, tavern, Belle's cottage and the Beast's castle.
The beautiful and intricate costumes include many different elements such as embroidery, beading, hot stoning, hand printed fabrics, digitally printed fabrics, laser cutting and leather work.
And then there are the custom wigs, all 119 of them, each taking 14 people 40 hours per wig to hand-knot.
"It's so spectacular, so lavish. It's massive in the best way possible," Tranter said.
"The scale is exactly what you'd expect with a Disney musical.
"There's new choreography and some of the numbers go for a lot longer than they used to because there's all these new dance breaks, and the costumes are pretty amazing - mine in particular."
Tranter's comedic timing was a highlight for audiences in Come From Away and she gets the opportunity to do it all again as Madame in Beauty and the Beast. Madame is an opera singer turned enchanted wardrobe under the castle's curse.
"I've been pretty lucky - they've rewritten her role a little and I'm one of the first people to play this new version of her, which is really exciting," Tranter said.
"She is the castle matchmaker and she gets these 'feelings' about things, and as soon as she meets Belle she has a feeling that she is the one to come in and break the spell.
"She's got a great sense of humour but lots of heart. It is a joy to play her. I do have to walk sideways through doorways sometimes [laughs] but it's all worth it."
Opening night for Disney's Beauty and the Beast was June 22 and tickets are on sale until December 24 through Ticketmaster.
"We're very lucky to have such a long run," Tranter said.
"I don't think there's anything quite like a night at the live theatre. It's such an escape and I do think Disney are the best at it."
As for 2024, she's keeping her options open.
"We don't tend to think too far ahead in this industry. At the moment I'm just loving this production and telling this wonderful story.
"Being part of a Disney musical is a dream come true."
