Panto review: Beauty and The Beast show in Kenilworth is a first rate performance

Beauty and The Beast

The Talisman Theatre, Saturday December 16 [until Saturday December 30].

Director: Amelia Fewtrill-Webster

Review by by Charles Essex

The success of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast set a high bar for any future productions to follow. Yet the cast and crew of The Talisman rose to the challenge and took the all-age audience on a wonderful adventure. The foundation was a great set design by Wendy Morris, using backdrops to create several locations in both Beauty’s village and the Beast’s castle.

Paige Phelps [Beauty] had a wonderful voice and carried the songs extremely well.

Director Amelia Fewtrill-Webster had the benefit of a cast with considerable experience in both pantomime and acting in general, which helped move the production along smoothly. The exception was Ben Ionoff as The Beast/Prince Rowan, who was new to the stage and did himself proud. His costume as The Beast was a tribute to the wardrobe team. The story was so well told by Steve Duckham’s script that it was accessible to even the younger members of the audience, who participated with gusto in the usual pantomime fashion.

The chorus of eight young dancers performed their routines particularly well. The tap routine was a welcome addition and will hopefully appear in future musicals. The ‘forest scene’ with a blacked-out stage and white masks, gloves and shoes under UV light was especially effective. The Talisman have found a gem in very experienced choreographer Sophia Michiko.

Husband and wife Paul and Sharon Sully were again backbones of the performance as Dame Lotte [Paul] and villainess Horridana [Sharon]. Laurie Weston gave a strong performance as Thomas, friend of the prince.

This production finishes off a very successful year for The Talisman which has once again come up trumps with a first rate performance.