Beauty and the Beast

“Beauty and the Beast” is a much loved musical adapted from the Walt Disney animated film. The music is by Alan Menken and the lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. It was first performed on Broadway in 1994 and in the West End in 1997.

This musical had the ‘wow’ factor from the very beginning; I had to keep reminding myself that this was a youth production! The direction from Katy Batchelor (assisted by Hannah Taylor) was faultless, it had been well cast and the staging was excellent; the pace was good and flowed with ease. The musical direction by Rod Iliffe was perfect, the vocals from all the company was very good and had been well-rehearsed, the excellent orchestra gave great backing to the cast throughout the performance. The choreography from Melanie Balderson was very good too, the dancing was also well-rehearsed and the performers made it look effortless. Well done to all the production team!

There were some outstanding performances from the cast … Harvey Warren gave a very mature and confidant performance as the Beast. Belle was beautifully played by Ellie Murphy. Alpher Gwenzi was a very commanding Gaston. Daniel Austin as Lumiere gave a performance which I enjoyed very much. There were excellent performances from Hope Hampton as Mrs Potts, Jack Garton as Cogsworth, Nathan Bishop as LeFou and Thomas Deer as Maurice. Commendable performances came from Talia Mckenzie Zerene as Babbette, Olivia Dalton as Madame de Grande Bouche, Freya Browette, Betsy McCallum and Roxy Anchidim as Le Filles. There was a very sweet portrayal of Chip Potts by Rose Batchelor /Arya Luck. I must not forget the amazing ensemble who gave their all throughout the performance.  Well done to all the company you were all awesome!

This was a visually stunning production. The sets, props and costumes were all outstanding. The lighting and sound quality was excellent throughout the performance. I could not find anything to fault with this production and I must say this has to be the best youth production that I have ever seen! Thank you to N.M.T.C. Youth for a wonderfully entertaining performance of “Beauty and the Beast”.

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