Disney's Beauty and the Beast

A cast of 43, plus an orchestra of 11 musicians, brought Disney’s version of this enchanting story to the North East town of Huntly in this vibrant production. With equal amount of pathos and comedy in the story line, with beautiful songs to listen to and excellent choreography carried out by the whole company, the full house audience were treated to a magical evening, Mallory Peter made a superb Belle bringing out both the feisty and caring natures of the character equally well. Her renditions of “Home” and “A Change in Me” were a delight. Lewis Moggach made a very impressive Beast portraying the character’s struggles as he comes to terms with learning how to trust - and love - extremely well. His rendition of the powerful ballad “If I Can’t Love Her” was outstanding. Colin Black played the preening, egotistical Gaston as to the manner born drawing every ounce of comedy from the character. In this he was ably assisted by his side-kick Le Fou (played by Alicia Riddell) whose fall about antics had the audience chortling with laughter. Martin Bell as talking candelabra Lumière lit up the stage at his every entrance and his rendition of “Be Our Guest” with the singing and dancing cutlery and flatware was one of the highlights of the show. Neil Bell-Forsyth as the sensible talking clock Cogsworth was a perfect comic foil as he tried to rein in Lumière's extravagances. June Cranna made a wonderfully sympathetic Mrs Potts and her rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” was a true delight. Strong support was given by Peet Michielsen (Belle’s father Maurice), Ciara Adams (flirty housemaid Babette), Bekkah Davidson (operatic wardrobe Madame de la Grande Bouche) and young Isabella McRobbie (an enchanting Chip). The large ensemble sang extremely well and the dancing was faultless in the company numbers - not an easy task due to the relatively small stage. The set was bright and bold and the many changes were handled well by the stage crew. Costuming was colourful and appropriate to the characters and era. Well done everyone for a wonderful evening.

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