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Beauty and the Beast
Presented by:
MLOC Productions Inc
Venue:
Phoenix Theatre, Elwood
Reviewer:
Anne Dewar
Date Reviewed:
Friday 12th June 2009
Tale as old as time! Song as old as rhyme…………
The
wonderful story of Beauty and the Beast brought to life By MLOC
Productions was enchanting!
The
cast looked like they had just stepped right out of the story book
and up on to the stage with colourful costumes and a grand looking
set completing the effect!
The
show was very well cast by Directors Roy and Jenni Mears who did a
great job of staging the show in a somewhat limited theatre.
Louisa Mitchell’s choreography was well balanced and creative and
she kept it to the style of the show and maintained each person’s
character in the choreography which I really liked.
The
Orchestra led by Danny Forward was very good, although at times
sounded a little distant and muffled and at first I thought it was a
backing track. Not sure if the placement of the orchestra was the
problem perhaps.
Deeon Clarke was a delightful Belle, she sang sweetly has a lovely
voice and her talented acting ability showed us Belle’s determined,
headstrong side but also her softness and innocence. Her scenes with
her father were particularly charming. There was something very
appealing about Deeon that reached out to the audience.
Lee
Threadgold has a wonderful stage presence in any role I have seen
him play and was strong and intriguing as the Beast. His range and
depth of emotions with his character were spot on. Lee the somewhat
angry beast to begin with gradually showed us the gentle beast
inside. His mannerisms were so natural, very believable and what a
true professional he is when unfortunately he had a costume mishap
as one of his beast horns became detached and hung down over his
face. Lee just kept going and did the whole dinner scene with Belle
the “Beauty and the Beast” song and “If I Can’t Love Her” as if
nothing was wrong. It could have turned into a situation where
audience started laughing as it did look amusing but Lee turned it
around and everybody in that audience respected what he did under
difficult circumstances and applauded him appreciatively. Well done
Lee, you are to be admired! A wonderfully commanding Beast.
Gaston played by David Woods almost stole the show! He played the
somewhat cartoon Villain character to the hilt and milked every line
for what it was worth. His Song with Belle, “Me” was hilarious and
he has a great voice as well. Together with Jeremy Smith as Le Fou
they made a formidable team, Jeremy also capturing his character
perfectly! Jeremy was very funny and very flexible and I really
enjoyed his performance. Great teamwork and comic timing from both
David and Jeremy.
Peter Dennis as Lumiere, was a favourite with the audience. Peter
had a fantastic French accent, great comic delivery of his lines and
looked every inch the candlestick character. His scenes with Babette
the French feather duster played delectably by Simone Griffiths were
quite funny and cheeky. He was very comfortable in the role and a
joy to watch, a very professional performance from Peter. Simone was
a flirtatious, attractive Babette and her scenes with Lumiere had
the audience giggling with their double meaning.
Gavin Dean as the tightly wound up Cogsworth was also very funny
with his antics. He portrayed the worry wart character with aplomb
and navigated the stage with his rather large costume beautifully.
Madame de la Grande Bouche was Felicity Elizabeth Eastwood and she
played the opera singing wardrobe with ease and gusto. Felicity
looked totally the Grande dame and has a wonderful voice with
terrific stage presence and comic timing!
Jeandanielle Evans captured the character of Mrs Potts the cook
turning into a teapot very well and Jacob Gousmett as her son Chip
the tea cup was delightful and had great expressions.
Belle’s father Maurice was nicely played by Steve Coultas and Scott
Reid was quite a stage presence as the evil Monsieur D’Arque and he
has a good voice as well. The silly girl’s Amy Anderson, Prudence
Patullo and Megan de Koning were aptly very silly as they swooned
over Gaston and were quite funny as well.
The
ensemble numbers were fairly tight with “Be our Guest” a highlight!
There were problems here and there such as the stairs leading down
from the castle were not really wide enough to cater to Cogsworth’s
costume and Belle’s ball gown! They struggled a little with those
stairs. The Wardrobe just appeared from the side of stage but really
should have looked like she was part of the set and then came to
life. It didn’t really make you feel that you were in Belle’s
bedroom or another part of the castle even. Also the west wing of
the castle I felt wasn’t clearly distinguished either. I did like
the moulding/picture part of the castle that came alive and grabbed
hold of Belle – very clever! The Transformation Scene where the
Beast becomes human again was also quite well done.
There were a few first night nerves and tech hitches like the
spotlight not being on Belle as she first started singing and crew
being caught on stage and of course costume mishaps but I am sure it
will all be ironed out as the show runs and all in all it was a most
enjoyable evenings entertainment and a nice escape into make
believe.
If
you still believe in fairytales then get yourself along to The
Phoenix Theatre in Elwood and get lost in the tale of Beauty and the
Beast!
Beauty and The Beast runs until the 20th of June
Bookings:
9570 4052 or 9580 1779
www.mloc.org.au
(for online and credit card bookings)
Anne Dewar is well known in Musical Theatre circles; and has over 30
years experience in both professional and non – professional
Theatre, Pantomime and Television appearing in commercials and mini
series and on Rove Live in Comedy Sketches. Anne has played many
roles in Musical Theatre. Her favourites include Dolly Levi in
“Hello Dolly” and Miss Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls” receiving a
Music Theatre Guild nomination for best actress. She has worked with
many theatre groups including Whitehorse, CLOC, Dandenong, Festival
Theatre, Nova, Phoenix and Eastern Musical Theatre. Anne has also
designed sets for many shows and directed and choreographed
productions at the Karrilyka Theatre, the latest being the
successful Australasian Premiere of the comedy play M*A*S*H in 2008.
Anne recently played the role of Vicki Nichols in Phoenix Theatre
Co’s “The Full Monty”, receiving a Lyrebird Nomination for her
efforts. She is looking forward to her next project which is
directing the “Kids on Broadway” concert for Phoenix in May this
year.
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