Beauty and the Beastie Boy (Youth Production)

Rainhill Musical Theatre Companies Youth Production of “Beauty and the Beastie Boy” was written and directed by the talented Samantha Moores. It was nice to see an inclusive cast of varying ages, abilities and talents and it was good to see that all the children involved were given a chance to shine. The show opened with a very good forest scene where Amy Balfour as the Narrator, Christophe the cat, performed a well-choreographed dance routine excellently.  She tells us the story of Belle played by Katie Reeves, and Prince Adam who she has turned into a Beast to teach him a lesson, played by Rihanna Mc’Ewan and Bell’s father played by Patrick Reeves who has been taken prisoner by the Beast. We then meet the baddies of the piece Gaston played by Mikey Rowan and his sidekick Lafou played by Lilljana Spencer who both worked very well together.  As the story unfolds, Belle arrives at the Beast Castle looking for her Father and here we are introduced to some interesting characters which included Lumiere played by Joseph Mc’Devitt who had a good French accent and Mrs Potts nicely played by Paige Quilliam with Daniel Hitchen as a comical Cogsworth and Maisie Riley as cute little Chip. The principle cast were supported by a chorus of castle servants who included, Millie Riley, Jessica Mc’Devitt, Grace Spencer- Storey, Isabella Parsonage- Howard, Olivia Parsonage -Howard and Holly Spencer-Storey who all had the Ah! factor. Generally, diction and clarity of words were very good so the story could be followed. There was a good choice of upbeat musical numbers all with innovative up to date choreography from Nicola Lyon which were performed well by the cast.
The set was well thought out nicely painted and designed for quick transition from scene to scene, for example the outside door of the castle was pushed back upstage which then converted the stage into the inside of the castle, this all worked excellently and along with technical input added to the overall feel of the show. Costumes were bright, colourful and well thought out, suiting and enhancing the production

But just some constructive comments, the pace was a little slow at times as some of the cast appeared a little unsure and hesitant with their dialogue, there were also some tuning problems in the musical numbers, but it is not easy singing to backing tracks as it can be hard to pick out the notes. I am sure these skills will develop over time under the guidance of Samantha and her colleagues. However, this was a good family show and it is well known that the success of any pantomime can be measured by the audience reaction and I am happy to say the mums, dads and family members, all certainly enjoyed this performance.

Well done to all involved in this production and thank you for a lovely enjoyable evening and making us so welcome.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.