Beauty and the Beast

A joyous opening with villagers in an array of colourful costumes. In fact, the costume department headed by Liz Santer, was a feature of the show with its co-ordinated ensembles and matching headgear. The sets too, were bright and cheerful and the painted backdrops by Barbara Howard and Pat Wilson-Small well designed. Alex Quilter, Musical Director and also on the keyboards was his usual self, never drowning the soloists and quietly filling in with appropriate melodies during scene changes.

Vicki Quilter played Belle and both her acting and singing must be commended. She was clear and a pleasure to listen to during her vocal numbers. Peter Blackburn - Pitch - one of the brokers men (well, pirates actually) was a real `character`, using the stage well and never straying far from the footlights. I mention this because far too many actors seem nervous to perform front of stage, so it was noticeable that both he, Vickie and Fairy Floribunda - Cheryl Barrett - all came well forward to deliver their lines, and it made a big difference. Aoife Quigley made a delightful Fairy Rosebud in a pretty red dress, dotted with roses. Sweet, rather quiet singing voice which will mature with time.

Mufty the donkey, with its tantalising carrot and nifty footwork was a definite winner with the audience, so it was quite a surprise to find its two halves were played by young people, Aimee Howard and Hetty Quigley. Fairies and Woodland animals were also played by young people and children and one very young man, in a white rabbit suit, was so excited by being on the stage that he just couldn`t stop jumping up and down, much to everyone`s amusement. In fact, many of this large cast of some 30 or more were unknown to me, so having made their debut, perhaps we shall see more of them in future productions.

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