Beauty and The Beast

It was a pleasure to return to the Dylan Thomas Theatre for my first show visit of 2025, and also my first visit to a performance by this company.

It would not be a Christmas/ New Year without a visit to a Pantomime and for my first visit it was Beauty and the Beast . As this show has now been released by Disney I wondered what the company would do with it.

I was glad that Stacey had veered away from the Disney story slightly whilst still using some of the characters such as the candlestick and teapot , under different names.

It was lovely seeing that the company had used some of their minis and juniors in this production, something that always attracts an audience.The panto follows the story of Beauty whose father stumbles upon an enchanted castle inhabited by a fearsome Beast. Beauty bravely steps forward to save him and discovers that there is more to him than meets the eye.So along with some wacky friends and the castle's enchanted inhabitants, she sets out to discover why he is cursed.

There was a large cast of characters in this production and each of the minor roles played a part in the overall production. with Megan Crutcher, Skye Thomas Corcuera and Abigail Smith helping with the juniors as well as playing cameo parts, well done girls.Tick and Tock were played by Nathan Norman and Rebecca Matthews.

The castle servants of Pots, Pans, Flick, Plume and Fleur were taken by Shauni Bates, Charlotte Crumper, Kim Morgans, Charlotte Humphreys and Chloe Campion, well done ladies.

Although it is a male role Maurice was played by Teresa Bradshaw with many comedic moments.

The baddies in the show , Gorag the Beast's brother and his sidekick Lucien were played by Nathan Taylor and Erin Lodwig, Nathan gave a typical panto bad guy performance with his appearances being met by loud boos from the enthusiastic audience. Erin, playing the sidekick who always wanted to help out the good guys, also gave a nice performance well done.

Fairy Fantastique was played by Ashley Morgan, and this role doubled up as the narrator of the story in parts, Ashley handled her role and songs well.

The comedy duo of Dame Dolly and her son Jack were taken by Ethan Preece and Charlotte Morgan, both of these actors did a really good job in moving the show along with a lot of audience interaction, especially with Dolly. Well done both.

The role of the Beast was played by Adam Couling, making his first appearance on stage since the age of 13, hopefully the performing bug has bitten him again, and this will be the start of many shows for this young man.

Beauty was played by Esther Bullock, a role that she played well. Esther showed off the proper characteristics of the rolle in her handling of Gorag and her affection to the Beast.

The production as is typical of panto had lively dance numbers and some special numbers for the little ones to join in as fairies etc.

Everyone involved in the show seemed to be enjoying the experience and I would like to thank the Director Stacey for her warm welcome.

I look forward to joining you once again in the future for your productions. 

 

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