In April 2011 we presented our biggest budget show ever. It cost over £26,000 to stage Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, but everyone agreed it was money well spent!
NODA National President said of the performance…. “The casting was impeccable with Ruth Emerson, a delightful Belle singing and dancing effortlessly into our hearts and gradually humanising the Beast – a most sympathetically played character by Tom Caygill. Well done to ‘father’ Maurice (Duncan Taylor), the macho character of Gaston (Perry Meadowcroft), whom we all love to hate and his amusingly agile side-kick, Lefou (Regan Meadowcroft). However, it is the Disney characters who come to life, that causes such appeal and we were not disappointed with the antics of Lumiere (Sean Mulkerrin), Cogsworth (Niall Lawson), Babette (Courtney Dempster), Madame de La Grande Bouche (Fran Fardell) and of course, Mrs Potts (Hannah Caygill) and her lovely Chip (Harry Rushton) as well as the rest of the fully supporting cast.”She added that along with the cast, the Director (Helen Rushton), MD (Lynne Caygill), Choreographer (Hollie Da’Bell) and the rest of the production team must take a bow for producing such an impressive support group.” She finished by saying, “It was a joy for me, as ever, to see everyone on stage afterwards and to congratulate you on your performance. You can surely tell how you were received by the audience but I personally thank you for playing in such a truthful and honest way that we retained our love and enchantment of the well-loved story. Thank you Centre Stage for the usual warm welcome and generous hospitality. Enjoy the rest of your run and your 40th Anniversary Year.”
Lesley Horn from the Exmouth Journal described the show as “A Beauty of a performance”.“Wow, where to start! Centre Stage delivered an absolutely amazing performance of Disney classic Beauty and the Beast.He went on to write, “Amongst a host of compelling performances Belle (Ruth Emerson) danced onto the stage with charisma and played the leading lady just perfectly. The audience was captivated throughout the whole show by the enthusiasm and presence of the complete cast. The host of characters who played the beast’s service staff were all truly marvellous, costumes (Sue Bonnet) were excellent, alongside some spectacular French accents. The chemistry between the whole cast was both compelling and intriguing. Everyone involved with this production should be recognised for all the hard work and dedication it would have taken to produce this spectacular show. Congratulations to all.” To see more photographs of Beauty and the Beast and other Centre Stage shows, taken by Emma Crane of Exmouth Photo Services, visit our gallery page.
