Jessica Frith is no stranger to the stage, having had the lead role of Annie in the eponymous musical ? another Gilbert & Sullivan (G&S) production ? at age eight. High school shows, other G&S productions, pantomime and more followed before she studied musical theatre in Toronto.

Belle is her first ?real solid role? in a musical, and while she finds it ?very exciting?, she also confesses to being somewhat nervous ? something she feels is good at the moment, but knows she will be fine once rehearsals are over and the curtain goes up. While Miss Frith relates more and more to leading lady Belle, she is still working on getting the full measure of her character.

?Belle grows up in a very small, provincial town and really wants to experience so much more ? similar to someone growing up in Bermuda. I felt the same way. She doesn?t appreciate where she?s coming from, so she takes a real journey from beginning to end. Unlike the other characters, who undergo a physical transformation, Belle goes through an internal transformation and learns to appreciate so much more than she did in the beginning,? she says.

?It is my first time playing this sort of character, and I am hoping that by the end of rehearsals I will really have found her arc from beginning to end.?

Unrequited love comes in the form of Gaston whose overtures leave Belle singularly unimpressed.

?In fact, she thinks he is absolutely brainless,? Miss Frith notes.

Currently working at Rock Island Coffee, where her day begins at 6.30 a.m., like all amateur thespians, Miss Frith takes the current balancing of her two lives in stride. For her, participation is all-important because she finds every G&S show ?an invaluable experience?.

The young actress has high praise for set designer Cleo Petit, musical director Mark Dorrell, and artistic director Duncan McIntosh.

?Cleo?s work is very, very good, and the set is really magical. Duncan, the Canadian director, has a lot of patience and a wonderful vision, and Mark is a darling who is always extraordinarily patient with us, and so good at what he does,? is how she sums the trio up.

Like all thespians, Miss Frith knows that, despite the long commitment involved ? rehearsals began at the end of August ? and the fun she has had along the way, when the final curtain falls it will leave her with mixed feelings.

?There is always a void when a show is over. It is always sad, especially when you have gotten into the run. That is when it turns into something magical. You kind of set up camp there, and when it is all over you go through a form of withdrawal, but you always go back for more. It is always worth it, always an invaluable experience, and you always improve in some way.?

Surprisingly perhaps, while Miss Frith?s training was in musical theatre, she feels her real strength lies in acting, and in January she will move to New York to explore sketch comedy.

Graeme Henderson found his niche as an amateur actor at age 15 when his old alma mater, Saltus Grammar School, cast him in the lead role of Danny Zuko in its production of Grease ? much to his amazement, since he had no previous experience and had only auditioned on a whim. Even so, it led to him being ?hooked on theatre?.

During his years at McGill University he participated in some productions, but it was after he returned home in 2003 that he heard about the G&S production of ?Fiddler on the Roof? and wound up playing what are known as ?multiple roles? (in theatre, the adage is: ?There are no small parts?) ? including chorus work.

And lest anyone think otherwise, Mr. Henderson stresses that chorus work is no backwater for lesser lights.

?My hat is always off to the chorus. They have an awful lot of work to do, and I applaud everybody who does this. It?s a real group effort,? he says.

Normally cast in nice guy/romantic roles, ? he was the prince in the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society?s pantomime ?Into the Woods?, to name but one ? Mr. Henderson finds playing the Beast ?quite challenging?.

?Quite frankly, I have always struggled with the role of being in love,? he says. ?Playing a character in love on stage is a very difficult thing to do honestly ? at least in my opinion. I really have to take some time to try and get the feel of the part, absorb it and play it as honestly as I can.?

Starting out as the handsome prince with everything he could ever wish for, after being put under enchantment, he then metamorphoses into the horrible, hideous Beast ? a spiteful, angry character.

?How could anyone fall in love with me?? this actor asks rhetorically .

Fortunately, the Beast?s journey in the lessons of love, both given and received, includes developing compassion and serious attitude readjustment, which presents Mr. Henderson with plenty of scope.

While he is thoroughly enjoying his involvement in the current production, when it is all over he knows he will have mixed feelings.

?With every show you do, you end up spending so much time with the cast and crew that you become really quite close to them. You have so much fun and so many laughs. At the end it is a mixed bag of feelings.

One the one hand there is relief that there are no more late nights over an extended period of time, but with that comes a sense of loss in that you no longer have this project, and the people you have been together with and worked with for so long have gone home.?

Mr. Henderson works in aviation underwriting by day. He is married to his ?lovely wife Julia?, whom he describes as being ?very supportive of my thespian pursuits, being quite a theatre buff herself?.

Phillip Barnett might be regarded as a big man around Hamilton, given that he is president of both Island Restaurant Group Ltd. and the Chamber of Commerce restaurant division, but there the similarity ends between real life and the character of Gaston, whom he plays in ?Beauty and the Beast?.

?Gaston is egomaniacal, a hunter who gets whatever he wants, and nobody gets in his way,? Mr. Barnett says. ?Everybody bows to him, and he thinks he?s the best thing since sliced bread.?

Naturally, Gaston decides that Belle, as the most beautiful girl in town, is the only possible marital candidate, but the plot deepens and much happens to individual attitudes and perspectives before the curtain finally falls.

Playing Gaston makes an ?interesting change? for this actor, whose previous lead roles have generally been of the romantic/straight man variety.

?A character role is a more of an extension, and of course on stage you have to make things larger than life, so this brings challenges that, in the last ten years in Bermuda, I haven?t had the ability to play,? Mr. Barnett says.

Like his fellow thespians, he has high praise for the visiting experts responsible for artistic and musical direction, set design, and lighting.

?Duncan McIntosh, the artistic director, is a professional who is responsible for the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island, so he has years of experience and is a man of prodigious talent. Mark Dorrell, the musical director, is well-known to the theatre-going public. He has been a professional West End musical director in London and that is his entire career. I say this every time: It?s like going to a master class when Mark speaks, he is so passionate about music. A very talented man.?

With the freedom to reinvent the familiar fairytale, Mr. Barnett says Cleo Petit has outdone herself with the set design.

?She has reinterpreted the show and taken it from a Disney-style look to a much edgier, darker, wonderfully rich theme and look ? quite foreboding, which plays so well. In fact, she has transformed City Hall theatre into something unbelievable.?

He feels G&S is ?incredibly lucky? to have sound designer Colin Pink back for the ninth year when he is ?full-on? in London?s West End.

He is also certain that leading lady Jessica Frith, who plays Belle, will be a hit.

?Jessica?s role is perfect for her. I think the audience is going to be dumbfounded by her in this role. You really are swept up in her and her passion, and what she wants and needs. You can really connect with her emotionally.?

Promising there will be ?tears, laughter and plenty of action? for theatregoers, the man who plays Gaston defines the joys of theatre as ?the immediacy, the texture, and the fact that it is three-dimensional?.

?You are enveloped in the visual, the characters, the relationships. You truly get swept up in it. Theatre is as old as humanity itself.?

Mr. Barnett, a born Bermudian, first discovered his love of theatre at age 12 in a Mount St. Agnes production. When his family emigrated to Canada in 1981 he he attended the Magee School of the Arts in Vancouver, where he was voted ?Most Outstanding Fine Arts Student?. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts (Theatre) degree with a concentration in acting, and trained vocally with John Trepp and Adele Clark. Representing Canada, he placed first in the 1999 Pacific Rim Festival at the Sydney Opera House, Australia. Mr. Barnett is married to his ?fantastic wife? Melanie and has two ?wonderful? children, Benjamin and Hailey.

?Beauty and the Beast? opens at City Hall on October 11 and continues through the 21st. For full box office and other information see the Bermuda Calendar.