Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Thank you all for such a warm welcome at The New Horizon venue. Front of House - Tina Harvey & Gillian Williams and the parking attendants, who found me a space. Publicity was very good on your socials Mia Ciok, Nicole De Martino, Julie Castledine, Suzanne Heydon, well done to the Box Office team – Kathy Taylor, Caroe De Martino, I think you had a sell-out performance and hope the rest of your run was similarly full. The pre-show atmosphere was just lovely.

For an amateur society, undertaking Beauty and the Beast (with Menken/Ashman/Rice) is ambitious. The presence of an orchestra (Tom Atkins, James Barrows, Claire Duffy, Sarah Jones, Howard Crampton, Trevor Burrow, Stuart Bower, Joy Bower, Andy Metcalf, Mark Davis), producing live musical support rather than just tracks, elevated the show. You created a lovely sound and I felt you were really enjoying the music.

I examined your programme which included details of the large production team, so my expectation was very high, you did not disappoint! The sizable and well‐distributed cast of principals, dancers, ensemble, and orchestra offered tremendous entertainment through your whole show.  I commend you for the strong casting, the leads – Belle (Charlotte Lee), Beast (Danny De Martino) – were wonderful, with strong characterisation, lovely vocals, and very good acting throughout. The supporting cast (Gaston – Mick Windmill-Jones; Lefou – Ashton Knight; Lumiere – Thomas Bailey; Mrs Potts – Siobhan Waddington-Taylor) were also superb, giving delightful performances and excellent vocals and characterisation.

Your production boasts an impressive creative team, the staging was supported by a Chair (Suzanne Heydon), Producer (Emma Seals), Musical Director (Tom Atkins) and a strong choreography team (Julie Castledine, Emma Seals, Jane Clark, Ellie Knight, Charlotte Lee, Nicole Horsley). The technical and backstage team all worked together to bring the production pace, zest and fantastic musical interpretation.  The set creation (Ryan Burnett, Joshua Mellors, Sue Cambell). Artwork – Rob Waddington-Taylor, Steve Westmoreland, photography – Steve Westmoreland, Props Manager – Richard Harvey, Stage Manager – Rob Waddington-Taylor, Backstage – Hari Fowden, , Sound & Lights – Rob Beech. Rae Scudder, Nathan Slowey, Spotlight – David Draper.  I particularly enjoyed the costumes, which Sue Lowe, with Molly Limpets (Sheffield), created a cohesive look to the whole show and brought colourful characters to life, which enhanced the acting and vocals. Some of the larger costumes looked unwieldy,  (the cutlery etc) but were worn well and the choreography excelled in  ‘Be Our Guest’, which filled not only the stage but the auditorium too.

With your ensemble and dance numbers, filled the stage with life and movement and you had worked hard to create some colourful, characterful performances.  Dancers – Ellie Knight, Julie Castledine, Lauren Young, Jane Clark, Amy Bright, Chelsea Day, Abi Harvey. Ensemble – Roberts Livermore, Elaine Oldham, Ines Green, Parker Goodman, Annabella Burnett, Amelia Tansley, Eliza Bailey, Ava cross, Abigail Priddy, Esme Seals. I saw excellent choreography by Julie Castledine, Emma Seals, Jane Clark, Ellie Knight, Charlotte Lee, and Nicole Horsley, fun, enthusiastic and coordinated. I particularly enjoyed the opening ‘in the village’, and ‘Be our guest’, but every number was superb. I might have the list wrong here because I know your producer Emma, was on stage for many of the numbers.

Beauty and the Beast is a complex show (or at least the Disney version is). It has significant musical and technical demands (transformation scenes, Beast’s castle, ensemble numbers). Given it’s an amateur production, there may be some compromises during set transitions, special effects, for instance a lot of projection was used to good effect, rather than physical sets pieces, which ensured the scene changes were swift with little interruption. The library pieces were handled well by the cast and backstage team which was delightful. I have to say the whole team seems strong. With such large cast, orchestra, and production team I was worried the staging would be spread a bit thin, with some ensemble members not getting the spotlight, or staging the transitions may slow down the pace. I am happy to report that you maintained energy and cohesion across the whole performance, well done.

The Beast’s household was played by Lumiere – Thomas Bailey, Mrs Potts – Siobhan Waddington-Taylor, Maurice – Richard Harvey, Babette – Hannah Chamberlain, Cogsworth – Steve Clarke, Madam De La Grande Bouche – Kate Richmond, Chip – Esme Persico-Hollis the night I came (& Jack Bright). All gave wonderful, characterful humorous moments. I enjoyed the ‘Something There’ and ‘Human Again’ in the second act, very much. Each interaction was clever and the character arc was cleverly revealed.

All the musical numbers demanded strong voices and ensemble cohesion. In amateur theatre, this can sometimes be a weak point—not necessarily due to lack of talent, but due to fewer rehearsal hours/less professional resources. But I saw none of this here.  I would rate this production as a strong and a commendable amateur show – you delivered an entertaining evening with visual flair, good music and fun for family audiences. It may not reach the “West End professional” level in every technical detail, but you do punch well above many local productions thanks to the creative team in place and local support.

The supporting actors, Bookseller – Martine Wheeldon, Baker – Lucy Hardy, Shepherd – Mia Ciok, Marie – Jacs Jenkins-Weller, Tavern Master – Tracey Kendall, Milkmaid – Alisha Irons-Mclean, Flower Seller – Mel Anderson, Laundry Lady – Helen Sale, Sausage Girl – Tilly Billington-Sale & Emilia Persico-Hollis, Candlemaker – Suzie Green, Hat Seller – Evelyn Skellett, Cronies – Chelsea Day, Julie Castledine, Lauren Young, Villagers Suzanne Heydon & Alison Reeves all gave strong, competent performances. Their singing and acting brought their characters to life. All maintained their characterisation and energy through each scene, and all looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely.

Overall, Emma Seals directed the whole show in a cohesive way, whilst having a superb creative team around her, I have no doubt her exacting standards, admired by the whole audience, meant that NOWMADS is able to bring strong amateur theatrics to the stage.

Thank you all for meeting me after the show. As a first-time attendee, I was delighted to tell you how much I enjoyed the show and to wish you luck with the rest of your run. I look forward to seeing you again next year for  ‘Aladdin’ in February. I will be putting your programme forward to the regional competition and hope you do well. 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.