25-year-old musical writer plays Lumière
The musical “Beauty and the Beast” is a story about love, sacrifice, and according to Zack Grob, it’s about freeing yourself from fears.
Grob is playing Lumière in “Beauty and the Beast,” but it isn’t his first time playing the charming candlestick.
Grob first started acting and singing in eighth grade and played Lumière in high school. Since then, he’s played several roles including Jimmy in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” Peter Pan in “Peter Pan,” Tarzan in “Tarzan,” Cinderella’s Prince in “Into the Woods” and Raoul in “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Like any actor, Grob has spent a lot of time thinking about Lumière, and he’s found there are several similarities between them.
“I really like connecting with people,” Grob said. “For me, finding characters like Lumière who are genuine or finding a way to be genuine — it’s me.”
Playing a charming candlestick he relates to is a feat itself, but Grob has done more than perform on stage. He is writing his own musical.
“It’s based on some of my life experiences and just kind of trying to tell my story a little bit,” Grob said. “My final project for my degree was a preview of what I’d worked on so far: six songs and kind of a basic storyline.”
The musical Grob is writing has a strong correlation to “Beauty and the Beast” — specifically noting the fear people are often confronted with.
“Lumière’s fear is not being able to be human again. His greatest excitement is the opportunity to go back to being human and interacting with people — real people, not just objects — is so important to him,” Grob said. “That’s kind of why I started writing a musical. I felt kind of stuck too, and there are things in my past that caused me pain and they’ve made me sad that I need to work through.”
According to Grob, stories like “Beauty and the Beast” teach us to let go of our fears.
“Lumière specifically, and I feel like a lot of the other characters too, parts of them are missing. And they get kind of stuck. Even Belle, she feels stuck in her town,” Grob said. “The only way that any of them can move forward is by embracing what’s inside of themselves.”
Even though the Beast is often angry, Grob said that Lumière remains genuine and caring towards him.
“Lumière can see through to his heart and that is consistent throughout the whole story,” Grob said. “He is seductive and sarcastic, but I feel like he’s also very genuine. He’s very honest with the people around him. He’s very bright, and he cares a lot about people. He cares a lot about himself, too.”
That compassion is something that connects Grob to Lumière. It’s also helped him work better with his fellow cast members. Chemistry with Cogsworth is a big part of Grob’s role as Lumière, but according to Stanton Allen, who plays Cogsworth, that hasn’t been a problem.
“Zack’s awesome. He’s taking French so he’s got the perfect accent,” Allen said. “His movements and the way that he will come in and out and interact with me it makes it a ton easier.”
That admiration doesn’t go one way either. Since working closely with Allen and Karen Gittins, who plays Mrs. Potts, Grob hopes to remain friends even after the production ends. Grob is originally from St. George. He studied general music at Utah State and graduated in December. His wife, Rachel, is in the show too — as a plate.
“It’s so fun to be with her on stage,” Grob said. “We’ve found some excuses to have moments together on stage. During “Be Our Guest” — she’s a plate — and during Lumière’s sad moment in the middle, I kind of back up into her. And she cries on my shoulder for a second.”
Music Theatre West’s rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” will be at the Ellen Eccles Theatre March 4-12.
Photo by Bailey Rigby