Beauty and the Beast Jr

This story as old as time , Disney’s Beauty And The Beast Jr , this ever popular Disney show was staged at The Borough Theatre Abergavenny with all their talented cast by Theatre Workshop Cymru , two casts from Abergavenny and Brecon including in this cast ages from tiny tots through to teenagers.  This was a very exciting time for all these students, many their first time on stage, the culmination of months of hard work and effort from the production team.  A magical story of love reborn, this musical has charmed audiences for many years and is ever popular.

This company provide stage skills and theatre workshop tuition and experience to performance.

With a rich score of fabulous numbers, which their cast revelled in, they showed their excitement to the audience with every scene they appeared in.

The Narrators, confident and clear voiced Amber Jones and Delphi Watkins, introduced us to this world of magic and hope for the future with lovely performances. With a young cast like this it is just being on stage that gives them the confidence and sense of fun they gain from being with their stage family, that alone is a great experience to build on.

Nia Price-Brown as Belle looked beautiful, and had great interaction with all those on stage, a delightful Belle from her first entrance to her Finale and her Beast, Branwen Davies was suitably aggressive and an excellent Prince for Belle, well cast, Their touching duets had good diction and vocals.

‘Be Our Guest’ was outstanding with innovative choreography, this number and also dance routines throughout this show, so important, choreography was within their ability from Molly Brickley -Clark, very well done.

Sound was a problem in this production, some dialogue missed, hopefully it settled for the last performances with small voices even more noticable, ideally they need mics.

Strong performances by a spirited and lively Gaston from Lyla Edwards and comedy came through well from Paige Wiltshire as Cogsworth, Mabel Hoggins as an excellent Lumiere, Beautrix Gaitskill so French as Madame de la Grande Bouche!

A rising star comic Bradley Wyatt as Lefou was outstanding!!

Two stars of the show with clear diction were Amelia Davies who shone as Mrs Potts, and who gave us the sweetest song and Isabel Davies was a very cute Chip.

Elin Woods as the oh so French maid Babette is one to watch, she was a showstopper!

All the other small roles were very well played. Congratulations to all the production team and everyone involved who made this show possible.

The endless work deserves high praise, yet it must be so rewarding.

Thank you for your welcome and hospitality and every success in all you do to give these young people the time of their lives!!!

THIS REVIEW IS THE SOLE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR DEE McILROY NODA

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