PRIEST RIVER — Off the Wall Drama proved that Priest River’s got talent as local youth performed a musical production of Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast" last weekend.

“I am just bursting with pride at their ability to keep things going, adjust to unexpected things that happened along the way and not lose their cool,” said Russ Bean, Priest River Lamanna High School drama instructor, after he decided to sit in as an audience member rather than helping out backstage during final public performance Saturday evening.

“They have all just grown tremendously over this time that we’ve had together,” Bean added. “I’m very, very proud of them.

Bean told the Daily Bee that auditions were opened up to all children in the West Bonner County School District, to include kids not only from the high school, junior high and all three elementary schools — Idaho Hill, Priest Lake and Priest River — but home-school and House of the Lord students as well. Two community members also participated in the production, Bean said.

“We pretty much just opened it up to the community at large, and those who are brave enough are part of the program,” Bean said.

Off the Wall Drama started 19 years ago when Bean came to the district. It was mainly intended for the students of PRLHS, but the interest in theater had dropped of a bit the last couple years, Bean said. So over the past three years, he said, they have done a lot of plays geared toward a younger audience, such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Annie." This allows younger students participate.

“My hope is that building some interest in theater at a young age, when they get to the high school they will be more prone to taking theater classes and being involved in the productions,” he said.

When performing musicals like "Beauty and the Beast," Bean said the cast is only able to do one play per year. For non-musicals, he said, they can squeeze in a couple each year. But the group does perform improv shows, typically one each month. He said they hope to do one around mid-March.

Following Saturday’s production, Bean proceeded to honor the PRLHS seniors, including Spencer Sedgwick and Josh Heuvel, both of whom have been with Off the Wall since their freshman year, as well as seniors Drayven Ayers, Reinie Proctor and Brittaney Millward.

In alignment with Off the Wall tradition, Bean then handed out awards to some of the cast members, all of whom were chosen by the cast. One award went to Lynda Ayers, the mother of cast members Drayven and Zandyr Ayers. Lynda Ayers performed as Cogsworth, and was awarded as the most supportive cast member.

“She is the first adult to win one of our awards — and I have tried for 15 years,” Bean said, drawing laughter from the audience.

Chloe Livingston, who played Belle, received two awards for most dedicated and most inspirational. The most improved award went to her co-star, Drayven Ayers, who performed as the Beast. Josh Heuvel was honored with the tech achievement award for the fourth year in a row. The director’s choice award, chosen by Bean, went to Spencer Sedgwick. The award included a golden yoyo, again following Off the Wall tradition.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.