*This is a retrospective review, the performance is no longer running. Date of performance was 28 June 2022*
Starring Courtney Stapleton as Belle and Shaq Taylor as the Beast – for the full list of the Cast and Creatives click here.
A tale as old as time…
The London Palladium was decked out with flowers, roses in particular, as the sign for Beauty and the Beast sparkled in all its grandeur emphasising what the performance had in store for the audience. The London Palladium is a decadent and grand theatre that is the perfect choice for the grandeur and fanciful imagery of the production. The play followed the traditional story of Walt Disney’s adaption of Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve’s Beauty and the Beast originally published in 1740. Like with all Disney adaptions the original version of the stories are much more gruesome and violent with often tragic endings, so the Disney versions are usually softer and the hero often triumphs and lives happily ever after. I think many members of the audience would be horrified if they attended what was a well-known Disney classic and was met with the original version with no alterations!
Curtain Call
The play was as glamorous as I would have hoped considering it was a touring production and had to fit and adapt to a variety of venues across the country. The sets were simple but effective with a lot of the visuals being projected on to the background to give the impression of depth and atmosphere. The character’s of the Beast’s servants really carried the performance, in particular Cogsworth, Lumiere and Mrs Potts stood out as with their comedic delivery and narrative development. In comparison, Gaston’s group of peasants also helped develop the narrative of Gaston’s brutish qualities that defined him as the villain of the story. These two scenes and places helped achieve two distinctive groups of the heroes vs the villains during the warm and inviting Be Our Guest to the brutish obsession with strength and might that Gaston is being praised for on Gaston’s tavern dance and song sequence.
The dance numbers were entertaining and helped move the narrative and plot along but in some cases these sequences were too long and at some points self-indulgent. However, I did attend this performance on the opening week and I’m sure tweaks, like all productions, were made to the production after the initial opening week. In particular, the well known and loved song Be Our Guest was elaborate and glamorous, but did last a little too long in my opinion. This dance sequence captures the grandeur and exciting atmosphere that Disney’s version is known for. I think what stood out the most was the use of projections, sound and staging that gave an immersive view and experience for the audience. This was done on a number occasion such as when Belle attempted to save her father, Maurice, from being the Beast’s prisoner in the castle’s dungeons. The Beast’s voice was projected from different parts of the auditorium that gives the impression of a much bigger space as well as an ominous impression of the Beast. The projected voice attempted to remove the character from the stage and into the audience to feel as if the Beast was roaming and lurking within the crowd.
Another example of good staging and lighting was when the characters were within the forest. A mesh screen was placed in front of the stage and the actors continued to perform behind the screen darting across the stage. The background was then projected with ominous and dark trees to give the impression that the forest was dark and ever-growing and the characters were in the middle of the action. The forest acts as divider between the mundane and safe provincial town that Belle lives in and the unknown and dangers of the castle. In an ironic twist it is the townspeople who are the dangers and assert beastly behaviour towards the Beast in an attempt to appear Gaston’s plans to save and marry Belle. The screens project falling rain and silhouettes of wolves that began to descend onto the characters. This was particularly effective as it heightens a sense of danger without having to physically act out scenes of violence to the actors and characters of the wolf attacks. Another good use of projections, screens and lighting was the scene where Gaston and the Beast are fighting on the top of the castle’s tower. As Gaston falls off the tower the actor was suspended in mid-air as the backdrop changed to look as if he was falling to the ground.
Final Curtain
Overall, I enjoyed the production and it had all the little details that brought the loved classic of Disney’s version to the real world stage. The staging, costumes and story transitions were impressive and entertaining. What I love the most about theatre and musicals is their ability to transport the audience into the story and immerse us into a world of fiction for several hours. That is the true magic of this production.
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