Beauty and The Beast Jr

What a delight it was to be invited to “Be A Guest” at Ossett Youth Theatre’s production of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast Jr.

What a lovely performance from Harriet Ling as ‘Belle’ who was faultless in all her tasks. Her singing was spot on and her acting belied her tender years as she showed the many emotions of Belle including compassion, pathos and frustration with ease. She is definitely one to watch for the future. Alice Albiero gave a sterling performance as The Beast, emphasising the change in character, and the transformation to the Prince at the end was simple but effective. Alice has a lovely tone to her voice and I’m sure she will continue to flourish at Ossett Youth Theatre.

The role of Gaston was played by Eva Hargreaves and his incompetent sidekick Lefou was played by Ben Bradley-Wood. It is never easy playing a baddie, let alone one of the opposite gender and I thought Eva did a great job of staying in character throughout the performance. Ben added a little more energy to his role than I have seen before which added to the contrast between his and Gaston’s personalities.

The servants at the castle were all confidently and enthusiastically played. Mary Stones as Lumiere, the Candlestick was particularly charming and I loved the effort she put into the French accent. Olivia Richard’s portrayal of Cogsworth showed that she was able to deliver comic and sarcastic timing perfectly whilst Sophie Weaver “poured” everything into her role as Mrs Potts the  Teapot. Her maternal manner was not lost on the audience and a particularly tender moment  was her song ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Act Two. Other strong performances came from Lacey Lamb as Chip, the child teacup,  Evalyn Turner as Madame De La Grande Bouche (Wardrobe) whilst Isabella Lamb enjoyed her role as Babette the French Maid.

As I have come to expect from this theatre company, every performer on stage took their role seriously and committed to it 100% which made for an excellent evening’s entertainment.

The costumes are worthy of specific note though and praise must go to Jayne Gleghorn and team for some wonderful creations. It certainly can’t be easy to create a walking, talking candlestick or teapot but the creativity and attention to detail really stood out for me.

This Tale As Old As Time was certainly a hit and certainly a good choice for the very talented junior section. Congratulations to Sue and Jessica Winstanley once again for a slick, well put together show and for giving these young people the opportunity to develop their skills.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.