Nic Greenshields is excellent as the Beast, playing the role with just the right mixture of towering surly rudeness, humour and touching vulnerability. Some terrific facial prosthetics and make-up by Robert Allsop & Associates gives his expressions a remarkably lifelike flexibility.
Katie Rowley-Jones gives a solid performance as Belle, although the character is a little bland in this production and Michael Quinn enthusiastically plunges into panto villain country as the boorish brainless himbo Gaston who is a monstrous on the inside as the Beast appears on the outside.
The orchestra under Gareth Williams ensure the supporting cast perform with gusto and the dance routines and chorography by Alison Pollard give a fizzing energy to the proceedings.
A slight technical teething problem caused the show to be halted just before grand finale but the audience were more than happy to wait, and were not disappointed by the quite spectacular transformation sequence.
A rush of spectacle emotion and an errant wig ensured that everyone left with a song in their heart and a smile on their face.
