Q&A with Carter Lynch

Wow! The last few months have flown by. We hope that you had a great Holiday Season, and that your New Year is rolling along smoothly. We noticed that it had been a while since we updated our blog, so much has happened since we last updated.

But where do we start? Perhaps it would be best to introduce you to one of our newest cast members: Carter Lynch!

We asked Carter a few questions, and he took some time out of his busy tour schedule to answer. Let’s dive right in!

Beauty Blogger: Hi Carter! Welcome to the Company. First things first: whom do you play in Beauty and the Beast?

Carter: I am a member of the ensemble and my specific role is the Baker. However, I also regularly appear as a gargoyle and an enchanted object throughout the show.

BB: Wow, I bet that keeps you busy. Do you understudy anyone in the show?

Carter: I understudy both The Beast and Gaston, and I have performed as The Beast three times since joining the tour.

BB: I’ll bet that was exciting. Where did you grow up?

Carter: I am from Bethesda, Maryland, which is located about 15 minutes outside of Washington, D.C.

BB: Where did you work before joining the tour?

Carter: I worked at the Equinox Fitness Club in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

BB: I bet that helped you get fit for the tour! How long have you been in Beauty and the Beast?

Carter: My time here began on Dec. 28, 2010, so I have been on tour for about seven weeks with just over forty-five performances under my belt.

BB: What is your favorite part of touring?

Carter: Other than the new friendships I have formed, my favorite part of touring is seeing my country firsthand for the first time. My travel was limited before accepting this position and I have already seen more in seven weeks than I ever thought possible. The opportunity to experience the life and culture of each city we have visited has been invaluable and I could not be happier or more grateful to be a part of this cast.

BB: What city has been your favorite/ what city are you most looking forward to?

Carter: Honestly, my favorite city so far is the one we were most recently in; Oklahoma City. I dined in beautiful Bricktown, walked through the breathtaking memorial honoring those who were lost in the bombing, visited the Zoo in unprecedented warm weather and met several locals; all of whom were kind and hospitable. Oklahoma City is the first town that I can truthfully say I experienced fully. But it will most certainly not be the last. Chicago for six weeks in the summer should be mighty fine as well.

BB: When was the first time you saw Beauty and the Beast?

Carter: I saw the animated feature at the movie theater with my family, but my experience of the film was far overshadowed by that of my first Broadway experience. It was 1996 and Beauty had already been running on Broadway for two years. I was eight years old and the show was the first professional musical I had ever attended; and I never forgot the experience. I still remember talking about The Beast's transformation with all of my third grade friends. Beauty and the Beast has and always will have a special place in my heart; and when I was offered this position I leapt at the opportunity. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this timeless tale.

BB: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us about your tour experience so far. We’ll look forward to hearing from you again in the future.

That’s all the time we have for today. Be sure to check out our website: www.beautyandthebeastontour.com. You can see our schedule and find out when the show will be near you, you can also check out our cool desktop backgrounds which are sure to keep you feeling enchanted each time you are at your computer. You can even see fun preview videos of the show to hold you over while you wait for us to visit your town. Oh, and most important of all: it’s where you can buy tickets to see us live! Before you know it, we’ll be back with more updates from the company of “Networks Presents: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”

On The Road: A Touring Perspective

Living life on the road all year means many things. It means that we share laundry facilities in hotels; learn to eat full meals prepared in the microwave, and how to live with under 50lbs. in each piece of luggage we carry. Something that you might not think about though, is that many of us document our experiences on the road by taking photographs. Members of the company of NETworks Presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast decided they’d like to share these photos with the public. They used their three-week stint in Los Angeles as an opportunity to showcase a few of these pictures. The show is called: “On The Road: A Touring Perspective” and it is billed as follows:

This gallery is a photo exhibition featuring photographers on Disney's Beauty and the Beast tour (playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood). 8-10 photographers on the tour show what they see while exploring the country and world while not performing or working a Broadway show. The exhibition, which officially opens with the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk on March 10th and runs through the end of the month, will be featured at the Harlem Place Cafe in Downtown Los Angeles. The exhibition will benefit the Inner-City Arts Organization. The photos displayed are available to purchase through the gallery.

We recently sat down with Ryan McAlpine, the organizer of the photo exhibition, and member of the crew on the National Tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. We asked him a few questions, and thought that we would share them with you. Here goes…

Beauty Blogger: How long have you been working in the business/ touring?

Ryan: I've been on the road for 4 years now, and Beauty and the Beast is my 4th tour. But I've been doing theater since middle school.

Beauty Blogger: Tell me about some of your previous touring experiences:

Ryan: My first tour was The Producers, which was mostly one nighters. It was good exposure to intense theater after college. I toured before this on the RENT National tour for 12 weeks with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, which helped validate theater again for me. It's exciting to see people relate so much to a show and a cause.

Beauty Blogger: When did you become interested in photography?

Ryan: I started taking pictures when I got on the road in '07 to capture my adventures. In the last few years I've started to try to find an artistic art for photographs and decided to find ways to share it with the public. You visit so many places on the road that if you don't try to find a way to capture your experiences, they'll drift away.

Beauty Blogger: How many photographers have contributed to the show?

Ryan: We have 10 very talented photographers in the show each with a different style. It's awesome to see all these artists come together for one cause.

Beauty Blogger: Tell us about the Inner-City Arts Organization.

Ryan: The following is part of the mission statement of the Inner-City Arts Organization:
“Our unique approach to arts education brings elementary, middle and high school students, educators, families and the community to Inner-City Arts' award-winning campus—an oasis of creativity and learning in one of the nation's poorest neighborhoods—to work with professional teaching artists in well-equipped studios and performance spaces.”

I found this group after a lot of searching for an arts group involving children. I think their work is important to the future of industries such as the one I work in.

Beauty Blogger: Is there anything else that you would like people to know about the show?

Ryan: I think this show demonstrates the creative nature of a group of people who don't often have more than one outlet to give to the public. It all goes to a great cause and has been a lot of fun to put together. I was happy to find some creative outlet that has built up since I started this show 13 months ago.

The show runs until the end of the month. So be sure to head down to the Harlem Place Café in Downtown Los Angeles and find out what all the fuss is about. And of course, come see Disney's Beauty and the Beast at The Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through March 26th.