A Pure Beauty
…tale as old as time and as true as it could be. The Nottingham Playhouse combats the pantomime season with full force! With Kenneth Taylor "taking a back seat" to being the traditional dame and solely directing this year, there were still no disappointments to be found.
Rather than tap-dancing penguins this year, bizarrely, dancing tea-cups have taken the centre stage. A purely inventive production with a fabulous cast: not to mention the "new" dame (John Elkington) who successfully created an innovative and original character; rather than continuing the persona of Kenneth himself. However, there were two characters a panto could simply not be without, the "ugly sisters". The comical duo consisted of Rebecca Little (a playhouse favourite) ironically, the smaller of the two and the soaring Alexandra James as Florence and Veronica. Their eccentric behaviour and paralinguistic’s were hilarious for the audience to see.
Nevertheless, the twisted fairy-tale had many serious elements also, for example, the traditional love scenes. On the contrary, these seemed to play a greater role in the story this year, even capturing the most cynical among the audience to a genuine smile; especially during the romantic song where the audience are purely entranced by the dancing of Belle and "the beast".
Eventually, when the beast’s disguise is uplifted, there was a gasp among all female members of the audience. The prince was surely a charmer! After this event, there was a conventional pantomime wedding with a sing-along song for the audience to feel a sure part of the show.
In addition, the set was fabulous as per usual. Sparkles, glitter and dazzling set designs contributed fairly to this outstanding performance. In one particularly impressive set design, an arm randomly appears to move from above a table and begins to pour drinks and be hospitable towards the eccentric family of Belle’s – extremely witty to show the enchanted house.
So, you were thinking of seeing a pantomime this year...or yes you were! Go to the Nottingham Playhouse to view, yet again, another successful show directed by Kenneth Taylor.
Lorna Flint, The Minster School
Amazingly Magical!
Watching this made me have the excitement of a child, I wanted to watch more and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.
I would have to say by far the best panto i have ever seen.
My favourite character would have to be Madam Fifi, Absolutely hilarious character.
I think the set and costume looked amazing it looked magical very sparkly.
The set design was amazing it had every detail put into it.
Beauty And The Beast is really fun and all age groups will love it.
Justine Sharp, Clarendon College
The Kenneth Alan Taylor playhouse production is the highlight of the Christmas season for many, and this year should be no exception, despite the noticeable lack of Taylor himself from the cast list. However his writing and directing skills have certainly lost none of their flair, and the show is the witty, entertaining spectacle Nottingham has come to expect from Taylor’s productions. The production is filled with the humour, fun and music which make all Taylor pantomimes brilliant, and it is a brilliant take on a classic children’s story.
The show has all the trademarks of a classic pantomime, complete with all the usual comedy characters and antics, including a scene in the woods with bears, which seemed to thrill the majority of the children who were asked to share their favourite moments with the audience. It combines the original story of Beauty and the Beast with the classic Disney film, which uses the best aspects of both.
All of the actors were highly successful at interacting with the audience, and it was clear they were enjoying every moment of their performance, which was very effective in ensuring that the audience enjoyed it too. They were funny both in and out of character, and kept the entire audience entertained throughout the whole evening.
The music, as ever with a Taylor production, incorporated songs from both recent times and the old classics. This allowed the actors to engage with the audience, especially with the audience participation included in one of the more active numbers. As ever, the dancers were fantastic and were particularly entertaining as some of the much loved characters from the Disney Beauty and the Beast film.
I can highly recommend this pantomime as an evening of good fun and entertainment for the whole family. No-one should be put off by the fact that Kenneth Alan Taylor is not in the cast this year, as his writing and directing are just as flawless as ever, and the cast are brilliant in making his production shine.
Holly Morrall, Nottingham High School for Girls
On 28th November I went to see Beauty and The Beast at the Nottingham Playhouse. It was a pantomime, and in all honesty I’m not the biggest fan of pantomimes. But it was fun, there was everything a panto needs; there was an over the top dame, lots of dancing and singing, there were ‘he’s behind you’s’ and dancing bears. It was bright, it was colourful, it was a typical panto.
So the best bits? The singing along to I love rock’n’roll about five times and the table that had arms coming out of it. I thought the actor who played Jack was really good at getting the kids involved. The costumes were interesting. The dame’s French Fancy dress was without a doubt the most amazing costume; it had giant cakes all over it! And the wedding at the end had a strange space age costume theme, which was quite cool. The dancing teacups costumes were also amazing! The set was really impressive, the painting was beautiful and it hit just the right balance between realistic proportions and fairytale world. It was also really versatile and changed loads! I thought the bit where they acted out the story behind the screen to create a shadow play was amazing and really clever, also the use of screens when they were looking through the mirror. And again, the picture that changed to show the beast behind and the table with arms that moved made us all jump!
And the not so great bits? The story was weak but it must have been hard to strike the balance between Disney and the real fairytale. I thought there could have been a bit more improvisation and talking to the audience. But the worst bit was definitely the fact that there was no baddy! The beast was a sweetheart in the end, the ugly sisters weren’t even mean and there was absolutely no one we could boo!
So pantomimes aren’t really my thing; I like dark, deep, interesting, heart breaking stories, with emotive characters and an amazing plot. But, with that in mind, it was an entertaining and fun evening. The thing that speaks the most about the panto was the reaction of the 4 and 7 year olds who I went with. They absolutely loved it, the dresses, the singing and the happy ending. And their favourite bit? Well, for one it was the bit when the beast turned into a prince and for the other it was the beautiful wedding at the end. It was perfect for families; there was enough humour for the adults and enough fun for the kids. So yes, if you’re planning on going to see a pantomime this Christmas, I would recommend Beauty and the Beast.
Rebecca Coates, Highfields School
Ye Merry Olde Pantomime Song.
(Sung to the tune of jingle bells)
Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime is here,
Full of lots of fun, and all that Christmas cheer.
Bears are in the woods
and the Beast waits all alone.
Waiting for his Belle
to get back safely home.
Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime is here
Full of lots of fun, and all that Christmas cheer.
Belle can’t leave her Beast
and therefore scorns Gaston.
She runs to find her love
but it’s turns out he’s passed on.
Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime is here
Full of lots of fun, and all that Christmas cheer.
It all turns out all right
and there’s a wedding at the end.
If you like panto
for a ticket you must send.
Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime is here
Full of lots of fun, and all that Christmas cheer.
Joe Daunt, Highfields School
The pantomime is always the one I look forward to. Its always full of dancing, singing, the same old jokes that never get boring, lights, loud music and lots of shouting. And, this year was no exception.
When I heard it was Beauty and the Beast I was a bit confused. There is a story line, but I didn’t it could be long and interesting enough to be a pantomime. After all, where are the ugly sisters? Or the baddy that never turns out good. But the playhouse being the playhouse managed to turn it into an amazing pantomime full of everything you would expect. The thing I loved about it the most was that they used some of the original story, the Disney story, some of their own ideas and created a pantomime from that. The story line wasn’t boring or predictable and the characters all had their own personalities which shone through.
The orchestra, as always, was fantastic. They always use music really well to create a fantastic atmosphere. The songs were a mix of new and old which is great if you want the Panto to appeal to all ages.
The costumes are always a highlight for me. Especially the dame’s! Full of glitter and colour they lit up the stage and you couldn’t take your eyes off the stage.
As usual the pantomime was the highlight of my year with the young critics. Hilarious and full of fun for all ages, Beauty and the Beast did not disappoint me slightly.
Cissy Radford, The Minster School
