Sometimes when the world conspires against you, and you're feeling a little down and blue, you need to be taken out of yourself and transported into a magical fairytale world of wonder - and just as reading books made that happen for Belle, and later for the Beast, watching them on stage in the latest touring production of Disney's 'Beauty And The Beast' did it for me this evening.
Sometimes producers get it right - they understand the show, the feel and look of the show, they know what needs to be done to bring it to life, and they know who will help them do this. Tonight was one of those times.
It's not quite the film, and it's not exactly as I remembered the stage show to be either - a couple of things have changed (director's privilege) - but in essense, all the wonderful and colourful characters remain, and Alan Menken's soaring and emotive score is as wonderful as ever under the direction of Jonathan Gill.
The sets are lush and dreamy when they need to be and creepy and scary when they should be. I loved the three moving strange-shaped candelabra in the Beast's castle, they worked superbly. However the chase scenes through the forest with the wolves were less effective. Perhaps due to my proximity with the stage they were obfuscated somewhat, however, the effectiveness should not be dependant upon where one is seated. The scene changes were extremely slick, and the moods that both set and LX created were lovely. The one thing that bothered me slighlty however was that if we were to believe that we were in France, why was the signage in the village in English?
But it was the showstopping musical numbers with incredible and athletic choreography, and superb harmony singing, along with stunning cotumes which truly won the audience's applause this evening - Both 'Gaston' and 'Be Our Guest' were fabulous and flawless. [The Busby Berkeley style choreography was stunning!]
Courtney Stapleton was 'Belle', and her interpretation of this role reminded me very much of Dorothy in 'The Wiz'. Plaintive, sincere, and demure yet strong-willed. Playing opposite her was Shaq Taylor whose Beast went through both a physical and mental transformation this evening, and this was superbly measured. Both Stapleton and Taylor shone in their respective solo songs proving they had strong, powerful, but mellow voies to boot. Lumiere and Cogsworth (Gavin Lee and Nigel Richards) almost stole the show on their every entrance; working superbly as a comedic double-act, whilst Sam Bailey's Mrs. Potts was an almost exact replica of Angela Lansbury.
The fight scene between Gaston (played with suitable macho-ness and ego by Tom Senior) and The Beast in the denouement was realistic, but the death of Gaston as he falls from the bridge was nothing short of comedic and sadly ruined the effect. Just as using the momentary audience-blinding technique to transform the beast is also a 'cop-out' and doesn't truly work. But, personal preferences aside, come the finale and those two transgressions from the perfect show didn't seem to matter any more.
'Beauty And The Beast' will take all your cares away, and make you feel like your 12 years' old again! The perfect show to make you fall back in love with Musical Theatre, and take you away from the mundane quotidian grind! Go and 'be human again!'
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6.4.22
on - 6.4.22
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