Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has to be my favourite of their adaptations of well-known tales. Originally a novel by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, it was first turned into  an animated film and then adapted for the stage with beautiful music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Debuting on Broadway in 1994, and in the West End in 1997, it has been popular with amateur groups ever since it was released but it demands a lot of its cast and a very talented team of creatives to back them up. Talent was very much to the fore in all aspects of this production, which was truly SPECTACULAR!

The excellent set (by Scenery Solutions) was enhanced by an array of well-made props and other items, by the huge production team. Costumes, masks and wigs were all designed by Megan Fisher and made in-house by Emily Harkness and Verity Gravestock, with their team of seamstresses and assistants. There must have been hundreds of outfits, and they all looked worthy of a professional production, gleaming in the spectacular lighting, also of a high professional standard, thanks to Chris Pratt’s ingenious and imaginative design. Sound too (Tom Davison of Trained Ears) was pin sharp with a perfect balance between the singers and the recorded soundtracks. Stage Manager Tony Tame and his team kept the show moving smoothly with scene changes hardly noticeable.

Who better to envision, direct and choreograph this show than the very talented Zoe Fisher, whose enthusiasm and imagination have caused HMS to blossom over the last few years, bringing us ever better productions and developing a good following. True to form, she has chosen a very strong cast for this production and was backed up by an amazing production team.

Megan Fisher was the perfect Belle, combining innocence and kindness with the determination to rescue her inventor father Maurice (a nicely judged performance by Tony Dart), and a lovely lyrical singing voice. Archie McKeown was a great Beast – snarling and angry to start with but gradually softening as Belle worked her magic. He transformed his voice as well as his appearance: a great actor and singer. Nick Williams made Gaston the man we all loved to hate: arrogant, vain and preening, followed around by his admirers (great performances from Holly Fisher, Jess Knight, Rosy Stephens and Jess Tame as the ‘Silly Girls’) – how could Belle not fall for him! His sidekick Le Fou was portrayed superbly by Lucas Bradshaw, with boggling eyes and a manic grin he tumbled around the stage, the absolute embodiment of madness!

The household staff who’d been turned into furniture (excellent costumes here) were all well-portrayed. Rob McGough nicely up-tight and pernickity as Cogsworth, Sean Ridley delightfully cheeky and flirtatious as Lumiere, Courtney McGough kind and motherly as Mrs Potts wheeling around her tea trolley containing Chip, played by Oscar Plavenieks, with such confidence and charm, Emily Harkness as Madame de la Grande Bouche with an amazing operatic voice, and Bex Hannigan covered in feathers and delighting us as Bebette. The main cast was completed by Douglas James as Monsieur D’Arque and Fay Wilson as the Enchantress.

Everyone sang and moved extremely well, despite the problems caused by their costumes. MD Helen Castle had brought the singing to a peak of perfection, with some lovely harmonies and the big numbers were extremely well executed – especially “Be Our Guest” where the ‘mug banging’ was just amazing to watch!

What a spectacular show this was, and a prime example of what teamwork can achieve. To produce such a professional performance must have taken an awful lot of preparation, planning and rehearsal by a dedicated cast and talented team of back-stage people. Boy did it all pay off! We left the theatre humming the melodies and feeling lifted by the whole experience.

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