Beauty and the Beast

I really do not know where to begin with this report as all I do is stop and smile thinking about the very special evening I witnessed with a very special group of people.

From the moment we walked into the building we were greeted by the welcoming Front of House team with Rodney Bussey and they made us feel like long lost friends. As we walked through a tunnel of beautiful lights to take our seats, it was lovely to speak with Coral Carney, one of the producers and Amanda Gatehouse, the scriptwriter. It was evident from this conversation that there is a commitment from everyone involved in the society to do the very best by the children and give them an opportunity to grow and develop as performers and as people. The programme was a treat as the cover was created via the children through a competition with the runners up on the inside pages. Engaging Children through every aspect of putting on a show is where this society excels.

You could feel a warm glow in the room as our first performer entered the stage. Romeo, delightfully played by Charlie Fulstow. Charlie has a hard role as he links the story together and did a fantastic job considering he came into the production late on.

Beauty, Isla Normington was in every way the heroine of the show and she acted and sang with confidence. Isla alongside Izzy Baxter as the Prince gave us the classic panto combination and they were perfectly suited to each other. Izzy had a lovely presence.

The Beast was played by Stanley Holmes. This young man needs to be very proud of what he did. Stanley sang beautifully and acted with intensity.

The comedy double act of Sarah, Rea Vaqari and Millie, Molly Dent had the audience laughing every time they were on stage. A great partnership especially in the cooking scene.

Every panto needs a great baddy and in this production we had Cruella played by Lola Carney, ably assisted by her minions Trump - Kodi Bedford, Borris – Faith Wood and Horris – Ania Baxter. The audience booed and hissed everytime they were on stage showing how great they were at being bad.

Felix was confidently played by Wolf Greenfield. A great French accent which was maintained throughout that most adults would be envious of.

George Taylor was in fine form as Baron and displayed a very endearing portrayal of a dad worrying about his daughter.

Magical characters Lumiere – Katie May Alexander, Mrs Potts – Scarlett Allinson and Coat Stand – Blossom Fieldhouse were a fabulous trio and performed with great confidence.

Andre who is an extremely confident and self proclaimed most handsome person on earth, was brought to life by Faith Rooney and had everyone laughing at every word spoken.

Rose Red and Blue Bell was brought to us by Grace Vaqari and Tayla Statham and they were delightful to watch performing way beyond their years.

Villagers Lola Statham and Harriot Gornall completed the cast and acted and moved like they were the principles which is important to the quality of the show.

A fantastic dance team made up of Lilly (Trev) Wheelwright, Layla Bussey, Sienna Bussey, Tiffany Scott, Wyatt Statham and Ella Mae Curry brought and extra level of sparkle as they danced with great energy and confidence to some great numbers.

Choreography was devised by Evie Gatehouse assisted by Lola Carney. The dance routines were excellent and allowed the performers to show off their obvious talents whist also allowing them to have fun. A brilliant job well done.

Sound and Lighting was expertly managed by Madison Carney and Andy Hoe. The music was always at the right level so the smaller voices could be heard and never overpowering. The lighting was very effective from the opening to the end and enhanced an already great show.

Costumes were fabulous. To find that they were all handmade was quite a surprise considering the quality so huge congratulations to Karen Rice and Coral Carney.

The staging area was perfect for the space and was enhanced by a very effective back drop with high quality projections to convey the different scenes or location changes. The set worked perfectly and the extra touch of the rose on view at all times so the audience could see the petals fall off was stunning. Well done to Stevie Comer, Leon Alexander, Jane Alexander, Bev Hoe, Coral Carney, Daniel Traveller, Sarah Comer, Lynda Jowett, Ady Comer, Gary Holmes, Danny Jowett and Rodney Bussey. A real team effort.

Andy Hoe, Karen Parkin and Lucy Fulstow make up the rest of the team but as you will see in this report there are some many roles being played by multiple people that this truly is a team game of the highest order.

This was indeed one of my NODA highlights. This production had so much heart that I felt incredibly honoured to witness it. To see children thrive and have fun is the stuff dreams are made of and to have societies like this who encourage and support children is priceless. It’s the skills that the children will learn here that will help them grow the social skills and confidence they will use in later life.

Thank you for making myself and my wife feel so welcomed and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.