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Beauty & the Beast

Author: Julie Petrucci

Information

Date
16th December 2016
Society
Campaign Amateur Theatre
Venue
Needham Hall City of Ely College
Type of Production
Pantomime
Director
Becky Green
Musical Director
Mark Checkley
Choreographer
Stephanie Mills & Becky Green

It was nice once again to be invited to the Needham's Hall by CATS to see their production of “Beauty and the Beast “.  This was a traditional “Panto” in every way, featuring a principal boy and girl, a goodie and baddie and of course the pantomime Dame! There was lots of fun and audience participation throughout the evening.

The multi-talented Becky Green fresh from playing an “Ugly Sister” at Littleport directed and, together with Stephanie Mills, shared the choreography honours. Musical Director, Mark Checkley had worked hard with the chorus, and the choice of songs was very good, all the vocals were nicely handled throughout. It was lovely to see the junior dancers, all of them clearly enjoying the experience, and they all did well.

There were good performances from all the principals.

Martin Kemp as Dame Jolly had good rapport with the audience. 

Isabel Frammingham was a very sweet Rose Fairy and in contrast, Melanie Abrahams played a very evil Countess Cruella.  Hers was a stella performance.

Ellis Hociej ( Belle ) and Matthew Buzer ( Prince Louis ) both were confident in their roles and worked very well together.

In the role of Jacques Ethan Nelson was excellent, he showed great comic timing. I enjoyed his performance which showed great promise and I am sure audiences will be seeing lots more of this young man.

Mandy Morrish and Lisa Crosby as Chardonnay and Lambrini, Belle’s horrendously selfish “ugly sisters” obviously relished their roles, complemented each other well and were both very funny.

I liked Adam Hebbard who had excellent stage presence as Jean Claude.  He had the swagger and conceit of the man, with good projection and a slightly tongue-in-cheek delivery.

A fine performance too from Jacob Nightingale as The Beast. He has an excellent voice and sang one of the few solos.

Mention should also be made of Darren Mather who played two very different roles: that of Belle’s elderly father and Sven the Swedish masseur.  I commend the distinction he managed to create giving both roles good definition.  

Mustn’t forget of course Sam Laws and Jack Wymer as GiGi the family horse.  Well done both for not only for creating a believable GiGi but also for coping with the quick changes from villager to horse and back again.

The principals were backed by an able, and in the main young, chorus line up, many of whom had minor speaking roles so well done to you all.  More volume at times would have been nice as the musical duo’s contribution did drown out the voices once or twice.

  The technical team played a good part in this production. The scenery and props were great.  I particularly liked the focal point with the rose stage right which gradually lost its petals. Very clever.  The costumes, particularly in the Castle after Countess Cruella had dehumanised everyone, were all beautiful and very colourful. Make up, lighting and sound all greatly enhanced this production too. 

This was a bright and colourful production with some imaginative touches. Once again thank you CATS for an enjoyable evening

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