Sponsored by
Beauty of a show
As a reviewer of many years standing, I've become used to amateur companies bigging themselves up with promises of a spectacular show with the best costumes and best scenery.
Productions sometimes fall woefully short of the hype - but that's not a criticism that can be levelled at this week's regional premiere in Chesterfield's Pomegranate which is running until Saturday (June 26).
Beauty and the Beast is simply the best show that you'll see from a homegrown company and it's obvious from the get-go that big money has been thrown at it.
Characters flying above the stage, fabulous brightly-coloured backdrops and awesome costumes give it the expensive, professional touch usually seen in bigger theatres at panto time.
Many of the Inspirations Theatre Company performers are still at school and their youthful exuberance and energy shines as bright as the lights on Lumiere's candelabra.
Pretty 17-year-old Chloe Worstenholme is every inch the Belle of the ball and would give a professional singer of the same age a run for her money. Her exquisite performance melts spectators' hearts in tender scenes with the Beast and causes great amusement in her sparring with ladies' man Gaston.
Josh Mason is equally mesmerising in his characterisation of the Beast. If this 19-year-old university student doesn't have a sore throat by the end of the run, it will be a miracle, as he growls and roars his way through the show with the power of a man twice his size.
Up there with the best vocalists are Rebecca Mann as Mrs Potts, sporting a giant teapot costume and dragging a trolley containing little Evan Mason who plays Chip, and Nicola Webb as the opera singer Madame La Bouche, dressed as a wardrobe complete with drawers from which she pulls out an evening gown.
Wonderful characterisations come from Danny Scott as the French-speaking dandy Lumiere, Stuart Found as the bequiffed poseur Gaston and Matt Staten as his hapless sidekick Lefou, William Glynn as the wound-up Cogsworth and Gemma Gibbions as the flirty feather duster Babette.
One of three older grown-ups, Darren Kimberley brings humour to the show in his role as crazy inventor Maurice, who is Beauty's dad, driving onto the stage in a car that looks like it's powered by a teapot.
I found the opening scene, played out behind a gauze curtain slightly disappointing as it was hard to see what was going on - but necessary, I suppose, to switch the prince with the Beast.
Sound levels were a little tricky for the first few minutes on Thursday with spectators struggling to hear the vocals over the might of the orchestra, conducted by musical director Melanie Gilbert.
But to reinvent a line from Cogsworth: This is a great show everyone...well done, well done.
GAY BOLTON
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Chesterfield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
