Beauty and the Beast Jr

The Juniors section of Odyssey Theatrical Productions is open to anyone in Years 4-8, and as the regulations only allow young people in this age range to work for six consecutive days, thus wasn’t even a “show-in-a-week”; apart from a couple of Sunday sessions, rehearsals only started in earnest on Monday.  So I imagine the last thing the creative team needed was to learn at relatively short notice that their expected venue would not be available.  Happily, they were able to transfer the production to the brand new Rachel Smith Hall, a large, flexible space with a substantial and unusually wide stage.  With a few display boards pressed into service to define the auditorium, the show could go on!

A new venue, a young cast, and barely four and a half days of rehearsal – the potential caveats keep coming.  But the quality of this production meant that excuses are both inappropriate and unnecessary; it was quite remarkable what this junior company was able to achieve in an unfamiliar space in so little time.  Indeed, I suspect that few adult companies would be able to achieve so much if they worked under similar constraints.

The company, perhaps inevitably dominated by girls, had been well drilled in their singing and dancing.  The unison singing was both accurate and charming, and the soloist interjections in numbers such as “Gaston” were secure; the inclusive dancing was executed well, with some particularly snappy footwork in “Gaston” and “Be Our Guest”.  The crowd scenes had been carefully thought through, notably when the brand-waving mob invaded the Beast’s castle – a scene which was filled with nice touches and brimming with manic energy.  There were a few moments when discrete episodes didn’t quite flow into each other, but this was largely driven by the need to keep in time with the backing track.

The costumes for “Beauty and the Beast” always present a particular challenge, but the creative team clearly recognised that audiences (and younger theatre-goers in particular) expect the costumes to resemble those in the animated feature film, and they certainly achieved this.  Belle, in her blue pinafore-style dress, looked as if she had stepped straight out of the screen, while the animated objects all had the expected detailing, including battery candles for Lumiere; the chorus of dancing crockery and cutlery was imaginatively realised.   The costumes were complemented by the hair and make-up; from the Beast’s shaggy mane and Gaston’s French revolutionary wig, to the more subtle make-up on the supporting principals.

By any standards this was an accomplished production, even if you don’t take into account the inexperience of the actors and the very limited time for rehearsals.  The principals all knew their parts thoroughly and hit their cues promptly – how many adult companies could perform a show without a single prompt after less than a week’s rehearsal? – and they consistently got the basics right thanks to intelligent blocking, good posture with heads held up and eyes on the audience, and carefully managed gestures.

Odyssey Theatrical Productions should be very proud of this enjoyable and impressive show.  Those auditorium-defining noticeboards served a secondary purpose in that they hosted a display of photographs from past productions, featuring faces now familiar from other local groups.  Shows such as “Beauty and the Beast” give many young people their first experience of musical theatre, and I don’t doubt that many of those taking part will have discovered a passion that could lead to a lifelong hobby or even a career.  How could you not be proud of that?

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