Review: Beauty & the Beast, UK Tour at the Palace Theatre, Manchester

Happy Birthday to me. A big one for me too... So how did I celebrate? With a trip to the theatre of course! 

After a trip to the Rock the day before, I was back in Manchester for this one. For the one that has been playing at the Palace Theatre for the past few weeks, and based off one of the most critically acclaimed animated films of all time (and one of my personal favourites): Beauty & the Beast. 

The 1991 Disney classic, which was the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the OSCARS, was made into a stage show in 1994. Despite all the backlash upon its announcement, it was a huge success in New York, then coming to the UK a few years later. 

Now Disney Theatrical have made a brand new production that has been touring the UK for the past year (almost), before heading to the Dominion Theatre later this year. 

As if you don't already know this "Tale as old as Time" but...

When a spoiled Prince is transformed into a Beast by an Enchantress, he has to fall in love, and for them to fall in love back with him for the spell to be broken. Enter Belle from a "dull, provincial town", who finds the Beast in his castle.. and sparks begin to fly. What follows is one of the best stories Disney has ever given us. 

Now, personally, I think the thing I need to shout the most about, is the magic brought into the effects and illusions. The wolf chase scenes for example, are all illusions rather than puppetry; quite scary too may I add for kids. 

But that's not all: there's whenever Lumiere's hands "light up", or the rain effects during The Mob Song. Similarly, the Beast's castle looked stunning (well from what I can see; some bits are chopped off if you're sitting in the Gods like I was). 

The big moments are as big as you would expect. Be Our Guest is almost Friend Like Me from Aladdin level, in terms of jaw-dropping, especially going from the dark Baroque-gothic of the Beast's castle, to a bright pink curtain dropping down and the stage exploding into colour. 

And Belle's entrance in her iconic yellow dress... no surprise there were audible gasps in the theatre. 

Having said that though, I think for me personally there needs to be a few tweaks, especially with Gaston. Tom Senior certainly looked like a manly-man, but didn't sound as such, and for me, Gaston needs to. Otherwise he comes across as a spoiled child - and sadly Senior's Gaston was more like a Joffrey Baratheon only older and with muscles, rather than the pig he needs to be. 

And so his back and forth with Belle fell flat for me, not helping Courtney Stapleton's Belle at the beginning either. When she gets into the castle though, and has her back and forths with the Beast, this does improve. Shaq Taylor as the Beast fares the best out of the leads for me, with a rich deep voice, and his moments of awkward innocence trying to be nice to Belle being really sweet, and funny at moments. 

But putting all the bad out of the way, I need to mention the shining star in the cast - in a way, literally. 

Getting to see Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins' original Bert was utterly fabulous!

Lee played Lumiere, the servant-turned candlestick, and the most charismatic out of the three main household-object sidekicks. Charismatic, is actually the best word to describe his performance too; from his charm, to dance skills in Be Our Guest. His interactions with Cogsworth (played by Nigel Richards) were hilarious, as if they had come straight from the film! 

Richards himself as Cogsworth was uptight (hehe), and Sam Bailey (Chicago) brought a lot of warmth to Mrs Potts. I've already mentioned the gasps during Beauty & the Beast, with Belle's dress, her dance with the Beast.. but it was Bailey's vocals that brought it all together to make something truly magical. 

This is a truly a perfect show for families. The Grand Tier (probably the whole theatre) was a sea of small Belles. Just be advised however, that the first half is pretty long, in fact, I think it is as long as Les Mis' first half. By the time Taylor finished the final notes of If I Can't Love Her (what a song by the way), I think there were a lot of little ones who were dying for the toilet... 

The other thing I would recommend is to go during the week when tickets may be slightly cheaper, as Disney Theatrical put the prices UP, even for a touring production. And sadly, as I've said before, some of the set is chopped off for those up at the top. Seems a bit unfair don't you think...? 

But enough about that - would I still recommend Beauty & the Beast...? Of course I would, it's Beauty & the Beast! 

I'm not sure if it has that extra touch of whimsical magic like Bedknobs & Broomsticks perhaps did, and can still do with a few tweaks; but it is still something I would definitely advise watching. 

 Between this and Come From Away, pretty good birthday weekend. Just allow me to wallow like Joey for a couple of days.... and play 30/90 from tick, tick... BOOM! on repeat!

Source: joey tribbiani friends GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY