Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is filled with magic, fantasy, amazing songs, and all weaved around a “tale as old as time”. All the principals were well cast in their roles, and each delivered solid characterisations throughout the show. Olivia Findlay gave such a confident and controlled portrayal of Belle, with a lovely warmth and charm fitting of a Disney Princess. Her mannerisms and dialogue delivery were every inch the character giving a delightful performance as the anchor of the show, with exceptional vocals throughout. Her rendition of “A Change in Me” was beautiful. Complimenting Olivia were her leading men, in the form of Ross Pollock was a cheeky, charming and assured Gaston and Brian Toward’s strong and commanding Beast. Ross owned his scenes with ease, giving strong vocals and lots of comedy through line delivery and physicality. Brian showed strong character work as well changing from the Beast to the Prince as his character softened with the progression of the story. He also showcased impressive vocals leading his solo numbers which were full of emotion, and he closed Act 1 fiercely with a fantastic rendition of “If I Can’t Love Her”. He also worked very well with Olivia in their scenes capturing Belle and The Beast’s developing relationship. Gaston’s sidekick Le Fou was played by Jen McNair who was fun, full of energy and worked well as a great foil for Gaston. The smooth physicality, comedic timing and of course the fab French accent of Reece Folan as Lumiere was brilliant and worked so well with the comic, commanding and amusingly pompous Cogsworth played by Murray Constable.  They made an ideal pairing and complimented each other throughout. Laura Fountain was a wonderful Mrs Potts displaying compassion for the other characters around her with warmth, comedy, an infectious giggle and superbly animated facial expressions. You could have heard a pin drop during her rendition of “Beauty and The Beast” which was impeccably delivered.  Concluding the main principal lineup were Laura Coban as the flirtatious Babette and Kerry Marshall as the Opera Diva Madame de la Grande Bouche, both provided more comedy in their respective roles and more fabulous character work with great stage presence and fab comedic line delivery. Laura’s relationship and interactions with Reece, and Kerry’s one liners and exaggerated search for Belle’s outfit within the drawers of the costume were hilarious. Both Laura and Kerry used their costumes excellently to add to the humour of the role. The smaller roles of Maurice and Monsieur D’Arque played by David Bebbington and Iain Denham respectively enhanced the scenes in the village well, and I would also like to commend Gaston’s admirers, the Les Filles La Ville, Emma McFarlane, Kathryn Johnstone and Ana Marie Castro who were hilarious in their parts and worked very well together. One of the most important characters in any production of Beauty and the Beast is of course the youngest member of the cast.  In this case the role was shared by Jake Moulds and Emma McLean. After seeing Emma at this performance and hearing about Jake’s on the alternate performances I know both were equally brilliant and a joy in this role. Congrats to both for all their hard work and dedication to this size of role at such a young age … and well done to Laura for wheeling them about the stage for six performances, one-handed!! The central characters within the story were supported by an energetic ensemble, who handled the company scenes and songs with a sense of ease, producing colourful movement and very impressive choral numbers. The harmonies within the fuller musical numbers were excellent.

Congratulations to the Production Team, Cast and Crew for brilliantly bringing Disney magic to Eastwood.

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