Beauty and the Beast

A tale and pantomime as old as time, opens with the handsome prince in his castle being cursed by a wicked enchantress and so doomed to remain a monster until he learns to love . Will the spell be broken before the final rose petal falls? An excellent looking castle interior set on several levels can be seen during the opening sequence behind an effective guaze. The enchantress Sacre Bleu played by Gemma Chan was outstanding in all aspects and of course to balance her evilness, the story needed the Fairy of the Mirror, well played by Nicola Dalton, who like Gemma could sing well and both made a good impression on the audience.

When action moves to the village of Petit Pois, in which the chorus move well, we met Heather Patterson, a shining personification of Belle, in personality and looks. Her father Papa an inventor, played by Ian Hardman portrayed a great character with presence and some good comedy timing. With a romantic eye for Belle, was Gaston Pompidou played by Olly Roberts. An excellent performance – clearly claiming he was the best at everything and loved himself too! Gaston’s lively side-kick, Clochard, his greatest supporter, was very well played by Georgia Sproul.

A close friend of Belle, was Brie and Tom Dalton showed great attack delivering his lines at a good pace and probably had the lion’s share of the corny jokes. Brie’s mother Nurse Aloe Vera was ably played by Jackson Holt and soon befriended a member of the audience, with great humour. Jackson’s timing was also good and handled 11 costumes with some quick changes magnificently. His costumes along with the rest of the cast were a tribute to the costume team. He even had hair and accessories that grew in height as the production progressed! Both Tom and Jackson led two good chorus numbers; ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend ‘ and ‘This thing called Love’.

At Papa’s house, members of the Harlequin Stage School provided one of several appearances and as usual excelled. On Papa’s way to the Invention Convention he is attacked by wolves and finds himself at the castle with the Beast. To gain his escape he promises to send the Beast the first person he sees on his return, which of course is Belle. The Chorus sang ‘The Sun has got his hat on’ which included a nifty tap break by six of the chorus.

There were some good characterisations  amongst the castle staff; the cook Fourchette, well played by Julie Merry, and good support from Jessica Skelton as Culliere on the night I attended (Role shared with Poppy Banks). I also enjoyed Matthew Heels as Dick the Candlestick and Lottie Heels as Plumeau who closed Act 1 with the company singing  ‘Something about this night’.

‘Sweet Dreams are made of this’ was a great opening to Act 2, led by Gemma, but a high point for me was the scene when the Beast, Christopher Newbould, met Belle and they both give each other a second chance, singing ‘For Good’ from Wicked and later whilst the Beast and Belle danced, Lottie sang ‘I Have Nothing’ beautifully. The overall picture in the ballroom was lovely. Eventually the Beast transforms back to the Prince and this was well handled.

When I listen to a band and they do not play music even during a slick scene change, and there is silence, I find this disappointing, but I can appreciate the difficulties when all the music is recorded. Generally, the sound was good, lighting was very effective and there were some innovative props. There were a couple of glitches including a wig malfunction, but full praise for the way these were handled with appropriate panto humour and of no significance in the overall enjoyment of a lively audience, generated by the cast. Congratulations to all involved.

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