Beauty and the Beast

Woodseats MTC bring the magic of Disney with their production of Beauty and the Beast to the Montgomery Theatre, the story set in France about a Prince cursed to be a beast unless he finds a suitor before the last rose petal falls along with his castle staff turning into objects and there to remain unless love of a young lady is found. Woodseats continue to support and encourage many of the traditions of community theatre, maintaining and retaining long term members whilst welcoming many new. This ethos allows for the continuation of a strong society and, long may it continue. I notice this year you welcome a whole new production team Rowan as Director and MD, Phoebe as Choreographer and Lucy as Dance Captain who between them brought a wealth of knowledge and vision which from the production we saw had been implemented to a great level. Having a fairly minimalist set with basically an angled raised portion up stage along with central steps allowed for the large cast to have space and create lovely shapes and scenes without being over cluttered. The production team certainly provided the vision, brought out the best from the whole with some excellent solos and ensemble pieces alike. It was quite clever how the rose kept appearing however on a totally personal note I would have liked it more in view.

The company delivered on so many fronts, many excellent principal roles, some beautifully played out ensemble pieces along with a number of smaller cameo roles. Of course as with many productions we think of the main characters Belle, Gaston, The Beast, Chip and more but without a strong and capable supporting ensemble we have nothing. Belle performed by Orlaith Day delivered a very polished performance exhibiting her many stage  talents and being Involved in many of the memorable numbers and showing genuine emotion as she nurtured her relationship with the Beast. The Beast performed by Jacob Boulton showing such bitterness to life and Belle in particular but then, after hearing the story read, slowly mellowing and seeing the kindness return along with the delivery of ‘If I Can’t Love Her’ delivered with such depth. Gaston by Alexander Haywood-Browne the all-consuming character who only sees one person when looking in the mirror, himself. A well performed role with some great scenes along with your interactions with the swooning girls. Lumiere by Peter Krajewski, Cogsworth by Thomas Galwey and Mrs Potts by Becky Jones three wonderfully convincing roles you performed, not at all easy when trussed with various hard to wear costumes but delivered seamlessly, with great characterisation and great accenting maintained throughout. Chip and The Young Prince performed by William Turnball on the performance we saw. Well done, William, clear well delivered prose, a lovely angelic singing voice and joyful stage persona. We were sorry to not see Henry White in this shared role but I’m sure he would have performed to the same high standard. Further lead roles, Maurice by Paul Mullens, the kind supportive father of Belle and LeFou by Peter Jones both well delivered adding moments of real tenderness and comedy timing.The madness of Madame De La Grande Bouche by Carolyne Bean with her powerful operatic voice along with the fun-loving Babette by Hollie White and Monsieur D’Arque, Marie by Sophie Heaton   three more well performed character parts. This production has so much with so many actors featuring in smaller roles and whilst not mentioned by name none the less important. The giddy girls Jessica, Sadie and Lilli swooning over Gaston, the wolf dancers Alice, Grace and Lucy along with all the remaining cast. The costumes were well thought and totally in keeping with period, the sound and lighting worked well and the Orchestra beautifully balanced.

You should all be proud of the effort put into this musical, the harmonizing was great and dance and movement well thought out and delivered. Well done to the backstage team for moving the production along seamlessly with the set changes .To the remaining back stage team with helping the various clothing changes and to you all when wearing those heavy costumes during one of the hottest weeks ever.

Thank you for the warm FOH welcome once again,

Philip Smith

Noda North East District 6 Regional Rep

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.