DOUBLE YOUR DISNEY

Envy the deformed dude.

The burly Beast under the heavy, hairy headpiece must be 10 degrees toastier than the petite Beauty in this wind-blasted icebox.

Geez, it's cold.

Hard to fathom as June heat hits, but on this chilled, tree-bending May night in this open-air, up-the-mountain rehearsal of "Beauty and the Beast," the conclusion's clear.

Advantage: Beast, even if he's otherwise outfitted in Beast-chic casual -- T-shirt and shorts! -- and the floppy headwear resembles two raccoons napping on his cheeks.

"We're just going to take it from the top and keep going until we die," says director Phil Shelburne, and one assumes he means until the scene -- not anyone's body temp -- nose-dives in the blackness of Red Rock Canyon.

"I've never done outdoor theater before," says the shivering Beauty of the piece. "I'm getting bugs in my teeth."

By Wednesday (when it previews) and Thursday (when it opens), the P.S. Productions show that kicks off the Super Summer Theatre season at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park will presumably be more beauty than beast. But tonight, the director is amusingly -- if facetiously -- downbeat.

Who chose Disney's Splenda-sweet megamusical as your next production?

"Uh ... yeah, that was my fault."

Fault? What turned out to be the big challenge with it?

"Survival."

Onstage, in front of a balcony set framed by stairs and backed by stained glass-looking arches, the choreographer coaxes the cast into calisthenics as one actor assumes the role of drill sergeant for jumping jacks, counting off and yelling, "I can't hear you!" Stray actors gab, goof, clown, recite lines and pivot into dance poses while the crew debates stage logistics, all in a low-hum, ho-hum ritual of pre-rehearsal buzz. Among the scattered, semi-bundled-up family and friends here to watch the rehearsal from the lawn, a black Pomeranian pup with the face of an angel -- named Angel -- scampers around, a magnet for smitten admirers who immediately break into baby talk.

Wandering from the warm-up -- oddly named this evening as the wind works itself into nature's knife -- Shelburne steps offstage to fret in detail.

"We did 'Tommy' and that was tough, and we did 'Sweeney Todd' and that was tough, but this is 10 times as tough as both of those," says Shelburne, whose last Spring Mountain entry, "Jesus Christ Superstar," was no walk in the ranch, either.

"I threw out my first three concepts for this show and trying to figure out how to make this run within the limitations has been a real headache. The set requirements for all the scene changes that go on -- we have no wing space here, no fly space."

(The latter is not a dressing room for Peter Pan, but a large area above the stage into which the crew rotates sets and lights via ropes and pulleys.)

"The costumes were unbelievably difficult -- just the cost of renting them were more than the entire budget of the whole freakin' show. We've changed the time period strictly for financial reasons. We couldn't afford all the lace and wigs that went into that era, so we changed it to around 1650, rather than the 18th century. Now it's the squarer cuts and we don't need all the lace.

"And we designed a very modular set, figuring things could not come in and off the stage, everything had to stay there the whole show somehow. The set's on a big turntable and I tried to create five looks on it just to suggest movement in the scene. It's a work in progress."

At least the actors on the front lines of this theatrical skirmish are braving both the elements and aggravations: Sevyn Mindoro plays the Beast, Kari Curletto plays the Beauty (Belle) and Steve Huntsman plays Lumiere.

"This is my dream role," Mindoro says.

"This is my dream role," Curletto says.

"This is my dream role," Huntsman says.

They are not triplets. (We checked.)

You know the movie-turned-stage show story (if you don't, we'll notify the authorities that your citizenship is suspect): Our ingenue, Belle, is held captive by a prince transformed into the Beast (while his servants are turned into objects) by a beggar woman he spurned because of her appearance, until love seeps into his heart and the beauty-is-only-skin-deep ethos gets etched in his brain. The score -- c'mon, hum along, now -- includes "Be Our Guest," "Human Again" and the title tune.

"When I first saw it, I had stars in my eyes thinking I could ever play this role," says Sevyn-aka-Beast. "I saw it four or five times on Broadway."

And you, Kari-aka-Belle? "Every girl has her Disney princess and Belle is mine. It's so hopeful, such a beautiful story, how can you not love it -- do you want to be in the show?" she asks her interviewer. "I'm sure we can make you into an enchanted object." (There isn't enough fairy dust in North America, sweetie.)

"When I told my mother I was playing this role, she said, 'You know, she's no Cinderella.' Belle's got spunk, she's a spitfire. I'm trying to harness that because she's not your Every-Princess."

How 'bout you, Steve-O? How do you like playing a maitre'd-cum-candelabra with torches for hands? "Holding your hands up in the air the entire show is a feat in itself -- those things are heavy," says the actor whose "flames" are actually lighted silk strips "flickering" with the aid of a fan. "We tried to get real flames out here but it's a state park with the desert surrounding it, and the cost to fireproof everything was astronomical. Besides, I don't need a fire on my resume."

But Steve, what about conveying the depth, emotional complexity and inner angst of a candelabra ... uh, Lumiere? What's your preferred method: Strasberg or Stanislovski? "He's all about his masculinity, wowing the ladies and that being taken away scares him and that's interesting to play and fight the cartoon so you're more than a caricature. And Lumiere gets to do the big song, 'Be Our Guest,' that everyone knows and loves. ... But it's a candlestick, so you contort your body into positions you normally wouldn't."

Back onstage, actor John Wennstrom, locked into his blocky, clunky costume as the Clock, awkwardly wobbles down the set's stairs. Actress Brook Voigt is partially costumed as a piece of china, wearing a bulbous midsection that turns her into a teapot in jeans, her sprout proudly stuck out. These household items with legs grant each other wide berth, surely making dancing a daring adventure.

"When you get costumes like the sugar bowl and cheese grater, a lot of it is like, 'Here's your costume and we'll adjust from there,' " says choreographer Stephanie Baker. "There's a lot of people, a lot of large numbers, and they're long and they're complicated. Lots of integral characters coming on and off, a lot of scene changes. 'Be Our Guest' is an intricate number, and 'Human Again' -- I love the song but choreographing it is giving me a headache."

At least gale forces are a tad tamer onstage and hoofing in overblown costumes must boost body temps. But for everyone else as winds whip harder and shivers run deeper ...

Yo, Lumiere! Yeah, you, the dude with the torch hands. ... Can you stand a little closer?

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.