Beauty and the Beast is a children’s show in the pantomime tradition. There are lots of: “Hello boys and girls…” “Have you seen my dog? What – it’s behind me?” and “Oh no you can’t! Oh yes I can” action intertwined into this well-known fairy-tale.
I wouldn’t call this a creative interpretation of the story either, it has certainly been given a modern feel but that has been done by working in some songs by Fergie, Avril Lavigne and Jesse McCartney into the script.
The six-person cast were energetic and engaging working the pre-primary audience perfectly. Special mention must be made of cast-member Ashley Weidner who not only played multiple roles but cut loose with a series of improvised foot-related puns when another cast member lost a shoe in a dance sequence.
This show is listed as suitable for 4-14 year-olds but the humour and the drama really is best for the under-eights market. And unlike traditional pantomime there really isn’t much in the show to keep the grown-ups interested – at 90 minutes I found it way too long. Clearly this wasn’t my cup of Milo but the kids loved it!
I did have one issue with the production and that was the after-show Q-and-A session. When the show is finished a voice-over urges the crowd to cheer the cast back onstage for an opportunity to ask questions – while I could see this being appropriate if the show was being performed at a school the Easter audience were more interested in hunting for eggs than engaging in dialogue with the actors. And what interesting dialogue it was – after calling for questions one adult took pity and asked actor Ben Jackson (who played the show’s villain Gaston) if he thought he was a good person. Jackson took himself a bit too seriously when launching into his answer which included the following comment:
“I’m sure everyone thinks they are doing the right thing – even Hitler probably thought he was doing the best for his country and his people…”
Jackson is the managing director and founder of Alpha Shows.
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