Beauty And The Beast

This now well known story and musical was a delight to watch. The Prologue of the background to The Beast where, as a young Prince, he turned away an old lady in need of help and had the spell cast over him was ably and clearly enunciated by the Narrator Isobel Madden to her young charge. The story then moved on to the village scene where we met young Belle pursued by the village bullyboy Gaston. Jennifer Murray-Smith was perfectly suited to the role of Belle with a beautifully pitched and controlled voice bringing out the emotion in songs like Home and A Change in Me. She captured the loving daughter of an eccentric dad and showed the outsider and intellectual parts of the role where she was strong enough to treat Gaston with more kindness than he deserved and to combat the irascible Beast whom she came to love. Antony Weld Forester gave us a growling and repellent Beast both in his appearance and manners but also conveying clearly the disillusion with himself and the despair of being unable to reverse the spell. His feelings were made clear in the well sung and emotional How Long Must This Go on and If I Can’t Love Her. Tim Messer presented effectively as the brash arrogant Gaston, attractive to certain ladies of the village, and confident in his pursuit of Belle but certainly not her intellectual equal. His inability to see Belle’s rejection of him, his scornful treatment of Belle’s Dad and his stabbing of The Beast showed his dark side. He was well supported by Sophie Lambert his sidekick LeFou who was more socially aware than he and singing well in leading the song Gaston. The Beast’s servants were all well matched to their roles protecting and rooting for their master: Lumiere was well played by Hannah Sanderson credibly keeping up the French accent and flirting humorously with Babette: Naomi Webster played the nervous but serious Cogsworth sparring nicely with Lumiere; Helen Webster humorously presented as the flirtatious maid Babette; Sally Smeed made an optimistic and clear singing Mrs Potts with a very taking Barnaby Poulter as her son Chips; while Gerry Eckersley as Madame De La Bouch presented with gusto, style and timing especially in pulling the dress out of her wardrobe - all conveyed the pressure of being under the curse too. Under pressure too was the endearing Maurice, Peter Hunt, Belle’s inventor father who braved the villagers’ scorn of The Beast. The cast, including a number of youngsters, all had individual roles in the village and their singing grew in confidence, tone and volume as the show progressed. Costumes were colourful, sharp and defined the characters. The Beast’s make up and mask were particularly successful. The small stage and restrictive nature of the steps in its middle were overcome by good direction and the five musicians accommodated the cast allowing each character to shine through. The set with opening flaps to reveal fireplace and library was inventive as was Maurice’s contraption. Memorable were the scenes and songs of Gaston and Be our Guest with all the cast in costumes as plates and knives and forks. The Transformation was well handled and the title song Beauty and The Beast brought the show to a moving end. The company brought the story to life and presented the audience with a thoroughly entertaining evening.

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