While Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast, Jr.” is known for dressing young performers in lavish production values like costumes, props, scenery and lighting, you’ll see something much richer when Riverside Theatre for Kids presents its concert version of the musical this weekend. In fact, it’s all about the talent, says director Kevin Quillinan. “It’s going to be the full show of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ but it’s all about putting focus on the performances and not all the bells and whistles,” he says. The upcoming Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta may have inspired Quillinan to use this approach. The annual festival, at which Riverside’s Theatre for Kids has won numerous awards, requires participants to forgo the typical trappings of high production value theater. And this weekend’s performances will help raise money for Riverside Theatre for Kids to attend the next festival. “We’re keeping with the theme of the Junior Theatre Festival,” Quillinan says. “The core of the show is a strong story. What we like to start with first with our students is the storytelling. Yes, we could put them in all the fancy costumes and wigs. We do shows that are full-on like that. But for this one, we want to embody that same (Junior Theatre Festival) spirit.” And, he says, audiences will be thoroughly impressed at the creativity and cleverness by his young performers as they tell the story without “the crutch of costumes” to impart character like the Beast, Belle, Chip, Lumiere and so on. So, yes, Riverside’s audiences will still get enmeshed in the love story between Belle, a beautiful young woman wiser than her years, and the Beast, a young prince trapped in a magical spell. The show is based on the ultra-popular original Broadway production with songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. It also has new songs by Menken and Tim Rice. It performs 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, and 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, on the Stark Stage at Riverside Theatre, 3250 Riverside Dr., Vero Beach. Tickets are $10, free for children 3 years and younger. Call 772-231-6990 or visit RiversideTheatre.com.
Save those calories, because Oktoberfest lands Saturday at the Walking Tree Brewery. In addition to plenty of beer, the festive celebration also includes German food from Wild Thyme Catering, like bratwurst, pretzels, sauerkraut and much more. Of course, any self-respecting Oktoberfest also needs to serve up the suds, for which Walking Tree Brewery will be releasing new brews. In addition to the filling food and drink, you can enjoy the music of String Assassins, an acoustic band specializing in all types of power jam music like rock, punk and even bluegrass. Even if you can’t plan ahead for all that food and drink, you can always burn up some calories ahead of time with the Volksmarch, which is a 1.5-mile walk beginning at 11:30 a.m. Oktoberfest at Walking Tree takes place Saturday, Oct. 2, at 3209 Dodger Road, Vero Beach. Call 772-217-3502 or visit WalkingTreeBrewery.com.
Art is all about this weekend. It begins with the First Friday Gallery Stroll, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, in Vero Beach’s Downtown Arts District. The stroll will take you along 14th Avenue from 19th Street to 23rd Street and the surrounding areas. There you will find a host of galleries and businesses exhibiting new work and eager to have you visit. The Pelican Island Conservation Society has its 10th annual Indian River Bird and Nature Art Show on view through October at the Environmental Learning Center. There are paintings, 3-dimensional works and photography on view and for sale, with 30 percent of sales benefiting the PICS. Plein Air artists are invited to paint at the ELC on Saturday, Oct. 2. For more, visit FirstRefuge.org or DiscoverELC.org. Meanwhile, the Vero Beach Museum of Art is opening a new exhibition this weekend. “American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection” features more than 70 works of folk art and art from self-taught artists. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $8 general, $7 seniors 65 years and older, and $5 students with ID. Admission is free to museum members, children 17 years and younger, activity military, first responders and healthcare workers. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is at 3001 Riverside Park Dr. Call 772-231-0707 or visit VBMuseum.org.
