by Alan Menken (music), Howard Ashman & Tim Rice (lyrics) and Linda Woolverton (book)
Director Dan Barnes
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall – Wednesday 3rd June 2026
The origins of the story of “Beauty and the Beast” go all the way back to a fairy tale from France in the mid-18th century, albeit I suspect that the best known version to modern audiences would be the 1991 Disney animation, on which this stage musical is based. It has become a regular staple for amateur theatre companies, whether the musical or the panto version. This one very much the former.
In order to enhance the stage space available, Trinity made the decision to use some of the floor space in front of the main stage to depict the village scenes, with those on the stage itself being used predominantly for the Beast’s castle.
This was an arrangement that worked very well and allowed for a clear separation so there was no doubt as to who was where at any one time. Movement on and off the stage was also handled well, although I wonder if a couple of scene changes had started a fraction early, since stage hands came on whilst the stage was fully lit on a couple of occasions.
The main set on the floor section was the fountain around which the village action largely takes place. On the stage, we had a magnificent double staircase which allowed for the cast to move up to the higher levels and be clearly visible.
Addressing the elephant in the room, unfortunately, this evening’s performance was hit with a few technical problems in regards to the sound. There was a narrator’s voice played over the system that was a bit muffled and there was a bit of feedback early on which will certainly have ensured everyone was awake! We also had a bit of interference in a couple of the personal microphones along the way as well. To give the cast their due, they powered through!
We also appeared to have an issue with lights coming on during the number “Human Again” as there was a point when some of the lower section were singing in the dark.
A common issue I get with these shows is that sometimes music is playing a tad too loud which means you lose the singing voices and occasionally the dialogue which happened notably during the number “Belle”.
Costumes were to be as expected from this production. Rustic villager costumes for the locals, with a splendid red hunting jacket for Gaston and nobleman outfits for the Beast.
Lumiere wore an excellent gold coat with the traditional candlestick in each hand – I can only assume he had very tired arms by the end of the run – with a gold painted face. Cogsworth was sporting an clock costume complete with appropriate headpiece.
Mrs Potts was depicting a teapot and whilst the costume was fine, maybe the spout could have been a bit more pronounced so it was more obvious that what it was. She was accompanied by Chip, in what has become the traditional head on top of a box, The mirrors on the base were a good touch disguising that that’s where her body was.
The character of Babette is a strange one – her “normal” self appears to be a maid, but in the four productions I have seen since 2023, I have been totally unaware as to what if any household object she had been transferred into. Here she was dressed in what appeared to be a 1920s cocktail dress with a red wig (somewhere between Bonnie Langford and Hannah Fry) and I’d also assumed she was the only human being left amongst the staff. From doing some research, apparently she’s meant to be a feather duster which sadly wasn’t apparent from the outfit.
Madame de la Grande Bouche (Mrs Big Mouth?) had a splendid costume which I believe is known as a chiffonier (which as any panto aficionado will tell you is “A big thing with drawers” )and we had some practical drawers in this outfit.
An interesting choice was that the wolves were portrayed by members of the chorus dressed in grey outfits without any vulpine features whatsoever. I’m not sure if this worked as it took a moment to realise that’s what they were meant to be.
We had some excellent choreography throughout the show, so a big shout out to Leigh-Ann James here (who was also part of the chorus), a particular highlight was the song “Gaston”. The only issue I had here is that we had people pretending to drink out of obviously empty cups – sorry, but that’s a particular bugbear of mine! I get why the cups were empty, but if that’s the case don’t have people pretending to drink out of them – it never looks good.
What an excellent cast we had for this show. A variety of different accents and voices which were maintained throughout.
Sasha Barnes was a tour de force in the role of Belle. She very much held the audience’s attention from start to finish. She worked very well with Matt Hunt in the role of the Beast, who superbly covered the range from anger to pathos needed in order to get the audience on side.
Sam Jones gave us a superbly villainous performance as Gaston, apparently pitched somewhere between Terry-Thomas and Dick Dastardly. (Some of you may need to ask your parents there!) According to the programme, this was his first ever show but you wouldn’t have known as he played it like a veteran. Granted he tripped on a line early on but who amongst us hasn’t at some point?
Sam was mostly accompanied on stage by Richard McNally-Reilly who gave us a delightfully camp performance in the role of LeFou (“extreme campness” according to his programme bio). We also got a great “dotty professor” performance from Paul Wescott as Maurice
We had a good team amongst the castle staff, despite them being obviously encumbered by the costumes. Matthew Cotter and Phil Lines were a superb comedy double act as Lumiere and Cogsworth, ably assisted by Bexs Perry as Mrs Potts, very much the “heart” of the team.
Mention must be made here to Aoife Davies in the role of Chip. It’s not easy being a head in a cup, but it’s a role that can bring out the talent of a young actor, and that was certainly the case here as she immediately drew the audience’s attention on every appearance. She’s apparently due to be the lead in Matilda in the future which I can see being a big success.
Sadly, too many people to go through everybody individually but the whole team worked together well and the audience will have left the theatre thoroughly entertained, as indeed was I. In fact I was so absorbed with the second act that only at the end did I realise I’d hardly made any notes, so around half of the above is from memory!
So a big well done to director Dan Barnes and everyone else involved in this production. This was opening night so I can forgive the odd technical problem and it certainly didn’t detract from a splendid evening.
Reviewed by – David G.
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