Beauty and the Beast

I have seen several productions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast now and each one has used something slightly different for the Prologue, this one was extremely clever and effective.  The opening story had been filmed outside a building, which looked like a real Castle, and this was projected onto a gauze, which quickly dissolved, at the right moment, taking you to the interior stage set with the Prince transformed to the Beast.  This venue has a small stage and as the set for the Beast’s Castle was permanent it reduced the performance area, but this had been overcome in part by building thrusts at each side, which were linked across the front surrounding the band.  The set for the Castle had been designed to incorporate all the areas required without having to keep changing the set, using lighting to pinpoint them.  The central staircase had a landing at the top with Belle’s room at one end and the Beast’s at the other; and the prison permanently set under the staircase, and the ‘Rose’ at the top of the stairs.  The excellent forest backcloth was on tabs, which opened to reveal the doors of the castle, which then slid open to reveal the interior, it all worked so well.  The cloth for the ’Town’ was colourful with the house of Belle and Maurice set permanently to the side.  The lighting had been mostly well designed and operated, the thrust staging did present some difficulties for lighting.  Costuming a show like this where the audience, particularly the children know what each character should look like from the film, can be a huge challenge; but all the characters were instantly recognizable.  The wolves costumes were scary and allowed full movement in the fight with the Beast.  The sound balance was good between band and voices, with the performers sounding natural.  The band under the capable direction of Chloe Allsopp-Jones provided excellent support to those on stage.  Both chorus and principals sang well throughout.  The whole company worked well together, everyone being supportive and entering into the spirit of the show with energy and enthusiasm.  Both chorus and principals sang well throughout.  Kara Kennedy had devised lively choreography, which was appropriate to the ability of the cast.  The tavern scene is always difficult with so many people on stage, but it created the right atmosphere.  The principals had been well cast and had developed their characters.  In her directorial debut, Heather Collins-Jones, with the support of the whole Group, had produced a show, which brought the cartoon characters to life and delighted the children of all ages in the audience.  Congratulations everyone.

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