Presented by Balaklava Community Arts
Reviewed 25 October 2014
Many over the years have loved this beautiful story and the Disney adaptation did nothing except enhance its popularity.
The tale revolves around a young prince who is rude and arrogant. He turns away an old lady in need of help. The old woman turns out to be an enchantress in disguise who condemns him to be a Beast until he can love and find someone to love him. His entire castle is under the influence of the spell and Belle is his only hope of redemption.
Bringing it to the stage is no mean feat and Balaklava Community Arts should be applauded for their efforts. The music alone is a challenge and many experienced musician have shied away from tackling the task.
On balance Jenni Lester did well with the musical direction. The levels were not always right (sound crew’s problem, not hers) and not all of the performers were up to the roles they were singing, but the chorus work was good and it had some definite highlights.
As Director, Eleisha Arbon has stayed true to the story and crafted a good production. She has brought the best performance from a cast with mixed levels of experience.
Choreography is hard with a big cast on a small stage, but Tahlia Crickmar kept it light and simple and the cast executed it well. There was lots of animation from the ensemble and the production flowed along nicely thanks to the smooth set changes and the simple set design by Lance Morgan.
Of the leads, Belle (Alex Chapman) managed to find the right mix of innocence and feistiness, but although Tim Heslop worked hard as the Beast, his inexperience showed and the very difficult songs were just too much for him.
Joe Russell pulled out all the stops as Gaston, but this character really must be good looking and an extremely bad wig prevented him from achieving that. Russell also he needs to believe in himself more.
As Le Fou, Nick Elgar was a hit managing to play the buffoon without going over the top. Ian Wilson was a gentle Maurice who did well in his duets with Belle, but he needed more depth. Anne Arbon made a delightful Mrs Potts and her rendition of the title song was one of the highlights. Marty Brice was a beautifully up-tight Cogsworth and Jonathan Jenkins stood out as Lumiere. That character gets the best lines, but its no good if you can’t deliver them. Jenkins was on fire! His exchanges with Kelly Bickle (Babette) were especially fun.
Hosea McPharlin was bright and clear as Chip and Heidi Zark did well as Madame le Grande Bouche. Luke Browne looked a little zombie-ish when he played D’Arque and the Silly Girls were very silly (however someone should tell them not to keep looking for their family in the audience (actually that was only one of them).
Not a production to set the world on fire, but fun to watch and a credible effort considering the resources available to BCA, and I’m sure lots of fun to be a part of.
Reviewed by Fran Edwards
Twitter: @Franeds
Venue: Balaklava Town Hall, Balakalava
Season: 24-26 October 2014
Duration: 2hrs 45
Tickets: $15.00 – $18.00
Bookings: Book online through TryBooking.com
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