Beauty and The Beast

Report

Author: John Holliday

So Friday’s entertainment brought two new firsts for me. Firstly a chance to witness the senior and adult section of Darlington Academy of Performing Arts in action and secondly a chance to experience their new home, the Darlington Community Theatre, and both were a real pleasure to experience.

DAPA have worked wonders to transform this new Community Venue into a wonderful setting for this production and on our arrival we were taken straight into an immersive French village setting with local stalls selling homemade cakes, drinks and a selection of memorabilia. All manned by cast members and Academy volunteers this really set us in the mood for the performance ahead.

The show started with a wonderful prologue, narrated expertly by Kathryn Gibson who told the tale in delightful soft tone with fantastic diction, acting as the perfect dialogue for the action behind with cast members acting out the background to the story. The lighting was amazing, a trend that would continue throughout the evening, giving us glimpses of the horror of the Beast but keeping enough hidden to maintain our suspense. Siobhan Crittendon lit the stage up as the Enchantress with a clever costume change sparkling up the stage to fully open the show.

There was a nice twist for a Society where in the past I have seen the adults support the Juniors in their productions but on this occasion the Junior members of DAPA were in charge of backstage, lighting and scene changes and they handled this with ease with not a cue or effect out of place and the whole show running at a good pace.

The Junior members and dancers were all heavily involved in the main numbers, and in the big opening number ‘Belle’ we got to see the whole Academy in full flow. The whole cast worked the stage with slick choreography, strong vocals and lovely interaction, acting as the perfect backdrop for our 1st introduction to Belle, played by Joanne Mason.

As one of the best known numbers in the show, Joanne kept the pace moving throughout demonstrating a lovely vocal range, working her way from scene to scene interacting at ease with all the minor ensemble characters. Julian Pinkney played Belle’s dad and gave us a lovely soft-natured side to this crazy inventor, giving us a different dimension through his fear once confronted by the pack of wolves (expertly played out and choreographed by the Dance Team) and then his submission when locked in the castle by the Beast. 

Back in the Village we got to meet Gaston, our walking ego and self-loving Hunk of the Village. Despite being admired and chased around by every other girl in the village he is desperate to marry Belle. Chris Baister gave us all the swagger and arrogance needed in this role which acted as a perfect contrast to the hilarity brought to us by Lewis Waters as his side-kick Lefou. 

Lewis was perfectly cast in this role providing the perfect slap-stick comedy required. A great display of visual comedy as he got knocked from side to side by Gaston, mastering comedy through song in the number ‘Gaston’ showing us what a skilled actor this young man is growing into.

Gaston, despite his infatuation with Belle has his trio of admirers in Le Fille De Ville, girls desperate to win Gaston’s love and affection and this trio of girls (Kathryn Gibson, Madison Parkinson and Madelaine Stonehouse-Hedley) were quite simply exceptional. Their facial expressions, quick one-liners, brilliant vocals brought a huge life and soul to many scenes, really exerting a great level of energy to the show. Also appearing in many extra scenes they added some stunning harmony work to the main numbers.

Once Belle swaps places with her Father in the Beast’s captivity we truly get to meet the mysterious and magical residents of the Castle as they desperately try to help their master undo the spell on them all.

Mrs Potts was played by Laura Pattison giving us a warm and mother-like character, the steam coming out of her amazing Teapot costume the only boiling point of her part. Her tenderness and affection was delightful as she interacted with her fellow servants and more importantly her son Chip. Now spellbound as a tea-cup, Beth Addison on Friday night was absolutely sensational as our little cheeky man. This role was split between many Juniors who all appeared in the big number Be Our Guest later in the show. Laura also gave us the most joyful vocal of the show with a tender story telling in Beauty and the Beast. A lovely soft tone and pitch perfect performance, Laura is definitely one to look out for in the future.

Sue Laycok gave us a glamorous and over-theatrical portrayal of Madame De La Grande Bouche, with a permoance almost as grand as her huge chest of drawers costume. I loved her larger than life cameo role making sure she had a real impact on every scene.

Rebecca Richmond gave us a lovely performance as the controlling master of the house, Cogsworth. In a wonderful costume she acted the part at ease, showing great control as ‘the straight role’ amongst the chaotic characters around her. Her interaction with Lumiere was brilliant, trying to be the calming influence over the over-excitable Candle holder played with expertise by Benji Hall, to me the star of this production. 

Benji gave a masterclass in portraying a lively, energetic and hyperactive main role without ever once stepping into the dangerous zone of over-acting. His vocals and control over the huge number Be Our Guest were a joy to watch and he certainly shone as bright as his Candelabra.

How Benji kept his concentration is amazing with his love interest chasing him around from scene to scene. Babette, the chambermaid dressed from head to toe in feathers was played brilliantly by the flirtatious and cheeky Camryn Mason giving Lumiere the run around from start to finish.

With Belle now resigned to the castle, the Beast slowly emerges from the shadows. With exceptional make-up Paul Mason took on this monstrous role and gave us a really strong performance. Managing to give us a terrifying side with ferocious behavior and demonstrating a soft and tender side as he starts to fall in love with Belle. The vocals on ‘If I can’t love her’ were really moving combining with ‘Something There’ as we start to see the tenderness and connection between the 2 characters.

The chemistry between Paul and Joanne in the title roles was lovely from the cheeky behavior right through to the final scene where Belle believes she has lost him for good and confessing her love. The transformation from hatred of the pair of them to the love story that unfolds was almost as slick as Paul’s transformation from Beast to Prince - absolutely faultless.

The final number gave us a huge celebration with all Junior dancers, ensemble members and principles involved and this is a show that would not have been anywhere near as big a success without any of them. 

This was truly a huge team effort, the scenery was amazing, the costumes exceptional ( have to mention Belle’s Yellow Ball dress which was truly sublime) and every little detail was well thought through - I loved the digital screen with the rose slowly losing its petals. 

Despite all this attention to detail what made this show was the teamwork and energy - the ensemble brought life and soul to the show, the Junior dancers were enchanting in all their roles and the principal characters embraced the true Disney in their roles.

Thank you DAPA for a lovely evening and I look forward to joining you for your next Senior Production, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next July.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.