Beauty and the Beast

‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a Broadway musical based on the book by Linda Wolverton, with music written by Howard Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and is based on the 1991 animated film of the same name.  

NAOS and director Justin Day have taken on the challenge of producing this musical and have succeeded in creating a true interpretation of the beloved story while staying true to the well-known Disney classic.

Our story opens with a narrator informing us that once, a young spoilt prince lived in a castle who, despite having everything he could ever want, was cold-hearted and cruel.  One dark stormy night, he is visited by a mysterious woman, cloaked in black, who offers him a single red rose in exchange for shelter for the night.   Repulsed by her hideous appearance, the prince turns her away and rejects the rose.  

The old woman reveals herself to be a magical enchantress (Sienna Brown) who punishes the prince by turning him into a repulsive creature so that his outside image now matches his inner beastly nature.  She transforms the residents of the castle into household objects as befitting their servant status and gives the rose to the prince.  She warns him the only way he can break the spell is to ‘learn to love another and earn her love in return’ before the very last rose petal falls.  

This scene was very well done with the use of a projection of the castle that morphed and changed as the spell was cast.  It also set the background for the story that was to unfold ten years later.

Our next scene is a little French town where our heroine Belle (Emma Wighton) lives with her scatty inventor father Maurice (Thomas Sargeant).  Belle is surrounded by townspeople all totally immersed in their everyday lives – making and selling bread, buying food for their families.  Belle herself is completely absorbed in a book she is reading almost oblivious to the hub bub around her.   She observes that the people of the town are seemly stuck in a repetitive daily routine and have been since she and her father arrived.   

The townspeople are equally perplexed by her bizarre behaviour and haven’t time to talk about such inconsequential things as story books.  We also meet the vain narcissistic Gaston (William Dewick) the local heartthrob (who has set his heart on winning Belle purely because of her beauty) and his bumbling kowtowing sidekick, Le Fou (Anthony Tallis).  Gaston is hero worshipped by the ‘silly’ village girls (Roseann Edis, Jade Mulligan and Sarah Crimes) who squabble hilariously for his attentions.  

Belle is obsessed by fairy stories and even hints at her future ‘here's where she meets Prince Charming, but she won't discover that it's him 'til chapter three.’  Gaston is determined to pursue Belle totally oblivious to her sarcastic comments mistaking them to be agreement to his proposal.  In a hilarious routine Gaston demonstrates his strength by holding Belle like a weightlifter as she remained as stiff and unresponsive as a plank of wood! 

But, be careful what you wish for!  Maurice stumbles on the deserted castle and disturbs the servants - a talkative flirtatious French candlestick Luminaire (Ollie Kirkwood) and Cogsworth a pompous, controlling pendulum clock (Andrew Beighton), a friendly housekeeper teapot Mrs Potts (Sarah Leaton) her son, a perky teacup called Chip (Ruby Stephens) and Babette (Lucy Dale) a maid now transformed into a feather duster. Cogsworth tries to warn him of the terrifying temper of their master and pleads for him to leave.  Too late, the master returns and imprisons the terrified Maurice.  This is the Beast (Sean Johnson in his debut role with Newark) now grown up and we realise he is obviously the spoilt prince from the beginning of the story.

Belle comes to the castle to rescue her father and, in an act of sacrifice, trades her freedom for her father to live with the beast forever.  So, we have the start of the prophecy - could Belle be the one to break the enchantress’s spell?  The servants certainly hope so and plead with their master to allow Belle to stay in the guest room where she meets Madame De La Grande Bouche (Rosie McLaughlin) a former opera singer condemned to live as a wardrobe.  The Beast tries to be kind to Belle by ‘inviting’ her to dinner, but his social skills are still sadly lacking resulting in him shouting that Belle will eat with him or starve. 

Meanwhile, back at the village, Gaston is depressed, and his ego has taken a serious bashing following Belle’s rejection.  Le Fou hilariously tries desperately to appeal to Gaston’s self-esteem by describing his admirable manly ‘qualities.’ Gaston eventually agrees with him but when Maurice bursts in with lurid tall tales of a hideous beast who has imprisoned Belle, he formulates a sinister plan to coerce Belle’s cooperation.   

We next have the iconic ‘Be Our Guest’ where Lumiere as Maitre ‘D, presents a Ziegfield follies style musical number featuring the cast as plates, forks and twirling napkins and incorporating different dance styles such as the tango and the cancan.  The servants observe sadly their current lives as ‘servant who’s not serving’ with no one to entertain but now all that has changed, and they pull out all the stops to impress Belle. 

Belle, who now realises she is in an enchanted castle, curiously goes exploring and stumbles on the forbidden West Wing.  She spots the fragile rose under a bell jar and goes to touch it prompting the beast to burst in and roar at her causing Belle to run crying from the castle.   Heading back to the village she is viciously attacked by a pack of wolves.  The Beast valiantly comes to her rescue but in so doing is himself badly injured.  Belle is faced with a choice run away and leave him to die or help him.  She choses to help him and from that moment the dynamic in their relationship changes.  The servants watch in hope that the spell will be broken, and they would be ‘Human Again’ – but is Belle the one to break it or will she break the Beast’s heart?

All the principals played their parts wonderfully truly bringing the fairy tale to colourful life.  I especially liked the arrogant William Dewick as Gaston strutting around the stage while striking manly poses making the girls swoon with delight.  William has very impressive vocals and had good comic timing, particularly in his scene with Belle when he tried to win her over by slinging her caveman style over his shoulder as he painted a picture of her future life as Madame Gaston.  His character became steadily more sinister and even elicited ‘boos’ from the audience when he tried to strike Belle who has by now realised who the real beast is.  He was ably supported by Anthony Tallis as the sycophantic Le Fou who was hilarious in the high velocity song ‘Gaston’  - obviously a bit of a one-sided bromance going on between the characters!

Ollie Kirkwood was fantastic as the French lothario Lumiere bantering playfully with his rival Cogsworth using ‘time’ related puns and flirting with Babette.  Ollie led ‘Be Our Guest’ with aplomb maintaining a cheesy French accent throughout very well.  Andrew Beighton was a suitably wound-up Cogsworth trying to appease his master while keeping control of the household but still joining in with the joyous ‘Be Our Guest.’   Sarah Leaton was a perky Mrs Potts using a cockney accent in homage to Angela Lansbury.  She had lovely vocals and sang ‘Tale as Old As Time’ with real feeling and affection.  Rosie McLaughlin as Madame La Bouche played her part well and displayed impressive operatic vocals.   Lucy Dale was delightful as Babette teasing and flirting with Lumiere as her feelings for him blew hot and cold saying ‘I’ve been burnt by you before.’   They all sang beautifully the poignant song about being ‘Human Again’ imagining what life would be like when they were back their normal selves.

Sean Johnson played the Beast eliciting our sympathy for his plight and delight in his developing relationship with Belle and understanding of his own evolving emotions. His vocals were beautiful telling the tale of his love for Belle filled with uncertainty tainted by his hideous appearance. Obviously, his facial expressions were concealed under his huge mask but he communicated his changing emotions through his physical reactions.  For example, I loved his clenching and drumming his claws nervously on the table during his meal with Belle.  His beastly nature gradually changed to reflect Belle’s treatment of him and his shame of his appearance started to disappear as Belle’s acceptance of him grew.

Finally, Belle.  Emma Wighton was perfect in the role.  This Belle was no fragile empty-headed beauty, but a feisty woman who was not afraid to tell the Beast exactly what she thought of him!  Her vocals were lovely telling the tale with humour and passion as she yearned for adventure and escape.  Emma’s scenes with Gaston were filled with humour as she resisted his ample charms with body language and a subtle roll of her eyes.  This Belle was not going to settle for a humdrum life in this ‘little village.’   Her initial terror at seeing the Beast for the first time and her sacrifice for her father were done very well and we felt her despair as she resigned herself to her fate.   Emma acts with her whole body – facial expressions and body language united to tell the tale which, like one of her beloved books, she was not going to judge purely by the ‘cover’ as she realises that true beauty comes from within.   

Special mention to the cast who worked tirelessly in singing and dancing as the villagers, and even performing as cutlery, plates and various characters.  They brought the story vividly to life and used the limited space of the stage well.  I particularly liked the perfectly timed tankard dance requiring lots of concentration and cooperation with their fellow performers.

Costumes were perfectly in keeping with the characters and, in the servants’, case solved the challenge of making them instantly recognisable as the household objects they portrayed while allowing some freedom of movement.  I especially loved Lumiere’s golden costume like a candelabra and Babette’s black and white feather gloves.  All the iconic costumes were present, including Belle’s exquisite golden ballgown, Gaston’s red ‘muscular’ chest and Beast’s blue velvet jacket, distinctive beastly fur and curled horns so they looked like they had stepped out of the original animated movie.

There were some lighting issues where the stage was not adequately lit but this did not detract from the overall performance.  Some scene changes were carried out without the customary blackout but overall were slick and well done.  I liked the rotating pieces of scenery switching from village to castle and the astronomy tower.  Music was provided by a recorded soundtrack with musical support from Musical Director Paul O’Leary.  Projections were created and designed by Justin and provided a powerful backdrop to the story.

Well done Justin and team for creating this lovely interpretation of the Disney classic and popping up in a few scenes yourself!  Before the show, I was given another friendly welcome by Chairperson, Rita Crowe, Bob Crowe and Mike Follen the Vice Chairperson.  I was also delighted to be asked to present some long service awards to members of the company.  I look forward to joining you in Duloc for your next production – ‘Shrek the Musical.’

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