Disney's Beauty & The Beast

After being withdrawn for many years, Workington & District Amateur Musical Society were quick to announce they had clinched the recently re-released rights to Disney’s Beauty & The Beast – in my opinion the best of all the Disney Stage Musical adaptations.   It has everything – magic, fantasy, amazing songs, and all weaved around a tale as old as time.   I saw the original West End production in 1998, the memories of which have stayed with me some 26 years later. Needless to say, I was eager to see WADAMS’ take on this Broadway extravaganza during the sell-out run at the Carnegie Theatre in Workington.

Musically, I thought the show was a triumph.  The ensemble worked incredibly hard during the production numbers and created a thrilling sound when they joined as one.  Both the cast and the 12-strong orchestra was led by Mark Hazzard, who did a sterling job keeping it all together and flowing along nicely!

More and more nowadays, LED Video walls are being utilised on stage.  The London Palladium production of Beauty & The Beast did just this and the whole thing seemed stark and bare.  It was so refreshing to see WADAMS’ had opted for a traditional and lavish set which filled every inch of the Carnegie stage. I imagine it came at great expense but was totally worth it - It looked brilliant.

The scene changes were really quickly carried out, and the cloths and furniture had been well planned to ensure the action kept moving along.  

The only questionable moment of the staging I found was the placement of Belle & The Beast during the Transformation sequence.   The pair spent a prolonged period of time hidden from view behind the upper level balustrades and I couldn’t see them at all from the stalls which was a shame as it was arguably the most poignant part of the show.

The lighting design complimented the beautiful set and costumes and gave the whole thing a really glossy and classy finish.  The sound was serviceable, though I felt a better balance could have been struck between the vocals and the orchestra.  Whilst the vocals were perfectly clear, I found them a little loud at times. On the contrary, whilst I could hear individual instruments throughout the performance coming through in quieter moments (including a beautiful violin solo during the title number), when the orchestra played together, the sound muddied and I felt the brass and woodwind got lost in the mix.

There are some huge ensemble numbers in this show, so hats off to Choreographers Linzi Wilkinson & Adam MacCreedy for creating some fantastic routines including the mammoth Be Our Guest sequence, which earned one of the biggest ovations of the night.   On the subject of choreography, a special shoutout to the dancing forks in the drawers– that was a nice touch! 

Daniel MacCreedy must be commended for not only directing a super show but also taking the featured role of Gaston – in which I thought he was absolutely superb! 

Evie Askew sang beautifully as Belle.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the song A Change In Me, but I absolutely loved Evie’s rendition of it.  I actually remember thinking “I could have listened to another verse of that!”.  You could tell she was relishing the role and I thought she did a really good job indeed!

Layered under prosthetics and a huge hair piece, Jack Pike played the pompous prince transformed into a ‘hideous beast’ - There was nothing hideous about his portrayal though! It must be very difficult to be able to convey the character’s emotion caked under all the make-up, but Jack managed to make it look very easy! I was worried that in amongst the 2021 re-writes for the new production the writers would have replaced If I Can’t Love Her with its replacement from the live-action film remake.  As one of my favourites in the show, thankfully it remained in situ and Jack delivered a very powerful Act One closer.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve seen Henry Voce play the stereotypical ‘Disney Prince’ on two occasions - both roles of which have had a very similar character arc.  It was really great to see him in a more characterful role, one that required a lot more depth than in previous shows. I thought he did a really great job as Cogsworth – managing to find the perfect balance of endearing but very dry wit!

Harry Basnett quite literally lit up the stage, displaying tremendous style and flair as the highly polished candlestick – Lumiere.   Harry had the role to a tee and it was one of those castings that you see, where I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the part as well as he did.  He sang, he acted, he danced – very impressive for one still in their teenage years.

I’ve come to realise over the years that a role is in safe hands with Kimberley Hazzard and once again she provided an outstanding turn, this time as Mrs Potts.  As Belle came out in the iconic yellow dress, there was a buzz in the air as we knew what was coming. You could have heard a pin drop during her rendition of Beauty and The Beast which was impeccably delivered.

Congratulations WADAMS on a truly brilliant production.  It’s a production I hold great sentiment too and the final rousing ensemble performance of ‘Certain as the sun’ never fails to make me smile / cry in equal measure.  Every single person on the stage looked like they were having the time of their lives, and it made me really appreciate once again how lucky we are to have such strong groups in District 10 – to put on the shows we do, to the standard we do, is simply astounding.

Now excuse me, whilst I press my habit in readiness for 2025… !

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