Beauty & The Beast

BATS are nothing if not ambitious and adventurous. Whilst a lot of societies haven’t yet got back into the saddle and others are performing with limited casts, BATS simply went for it with the full monty of spectacular scenery, a large cast and a very large chorus. Full marks guys!

So, on a bitingly cold afternoon as winter finally arrived, we crowded into an almost packed hall to what is always the most popular performance of any panto, the matinee! It is also the most challenging to pull off, holding the attention of small children is never easy at the best of times but unfortunately this performance wasn’t helped by the technicians who were having a bad day at the office with technical glitches beyond their control, such as mics breaking and items not coming in on cue, which had a knock-on effect on the performances and a detrimental effect on the pace. Even the central heating was having a day off! But never mind, we have all had them.

That said this was still a thoroughly enjoyable show, The costumes by Wardrobe Master Gareth Griffiths were a sight to behold, the musical numbers under the director of MD Tim Gardner extremely well performed, some delightfully funny scenes, well drilled choreography by Kay Gardner, Kerry Hewlish, Kay Young and Chantal Disborowe and some great characterisations by the cast.

The stage at Stratton School, which was under the management of SM Ashley Radley is large and therefore the set was, appropriately, two large cloth backdrops of the village of Franglais sur Mer and the inside of the Enchanted Castle, interspersed with a very well-constructed set of wrought iron gates at the entrance to the castle. And not to forget the amazing beauty parlour. All the rest of the scenes were performed in front of the curtains. Excellent job by the set crew of Designer Maxine Connelly with Jess Mumford, Jenny Howard and Dave Maltby. And slickly operated by the stage crew of Jess Ridley, Alice Hurden, Russell Clark, Lewis Watson, Carolyn Drake, Ben Thompson, Tom Monkhouse, Martin Hewish and Lisa Beckett. Add to that some excellent washes from Kate Maltby’s lighting and the stage was certainly a sight to behold.

Our Belle, Erin Watson was thoroughly enchanting, and demonstrated quite a singing voice especially with ‘A Million Dreams,’ whilst her nemesis, The Beast, Matthew Evans showed a great range of emotions as the beast softening his character as he falls for and tries to make Belle fall in love with him. And for a happy ever after ending a delightful performance from young Catlin Evans as the transformed Prince Danton.

Gareth Evans, as our Dame Madam Fifi gave us a great OTT performance, and ‘her’ make up (by Kerry Hewish) brought a smile to my face, particularly loved the glittery beard.

Ollie Elkin was probably the most memorable character, with some of the best lines as the totally narcissistic Gustave, and that Elvis style wig deserved an award in its own right. Great fun! Not to forget his loyal and slightly jealous sidekick Etouffe (the silent one) played by Jessie Fox.

Natasha Leftwich as Madam Fifi’s lazy son Jacques gave us some comic moments as he tries to save Belle, not always with the intended outcome.

David Gauge, as Belle’s aging father was quite brilliant in the role, and he really did look like he belonged in the 18th century. Loved the hair. Nice performance sir!

BATS were particularly fortunate to have a real set of twins, Hanna & Sarah Ridley to play, as the programme puts it, ‘Made in Chelsea’ wannabes, Whitney and Britney, Belle’s vain and greedy sisters. Well put across girls!

And whilst we are parodying reality TV, they don’t come better than ‘The Only Way is Essex’ lookalikes Josh Brushett and Katie Connolly as Beauticians Marcel and Monique. Brilliant job on Madam Fifi’s hair! And loved that T-shirt - LOL!

Our baddy, Belladonna was played by the very experienced Katy Gardiner who never failed to give us an evil smile and extract the maximum number of requisite boos! And to counter that as her arch enemy, along came Kerry Hewish as Flora, Spirit of the Rose to thwart her at every turn.  Great contrast!

And finally we had a cameo from Russel Jones as Monsieur Le Fou, the menacing keeper of the asylum. Should he be a resident himself the programme asks? I’ll leave that question unanswered, but let’s just say I wouldn’t like to be in it with him.

Our chorus/ensemble were certainly up to the mark, filling the stage with a great array of brightly coloured costumes and raising our spirits with their singing voices, Nice job guys! Well done to Maxine Connolly, Deborah Taylor, Margaret Grant, George Wright, Katie King, Josie Drake, Catherine Watchorn, Evie Head, Eleanor Dennis, Violet Hooper, Caroline Brooks, Amy Orrow, Lucy Taylor, Jennie Howard, Molly Mehan, Oscar Wells, Tom Newman, Kelvin West, Lee Clark and Toby Gardner.

One special and unexpected treat we suddenly had in the middle of the show was a fabulous display of acrobatics by Spiral Freerun CIC, a community interest company based in Bedford. Must admit, I would certainly like to see them again, a very skilful bunch indeed. Great entertainment!

So well done to Kay Young who took on the mammoth tasks of both Producer and Director for this production with a very large cast and crew. Hats off to you, just a shame the performance we saw was plagued with the gremlins, as I heard later that the evening performance was a bit of cracker and free of any technical problems.

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