Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company (MCMTC) are back with their annual musical offering bringing Disney’s Beaty and the Beast to the wonderful Grange Theatre.
Beauty and the Beast is a stage adaptation of Disney’s beloved animated film. The musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton, first premiered in 1994. It tells the timeless story of Belle (Gemma Chapman), a bright, independent young woman who is dissatisfied with her small village life and yearns for adventure.
The story unfolds when Belle’s father, Maurice (Bill Shardlow), gets lost in the woods and stumbles upon the Beast’s enchanted castle. The Beast (Ben Vaughan), a prince cursed by an enchantress, imprisons Maurice. Belle offers to take her father’s place and becomes a prisoner in the Beast’s castle. Over time, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff, including Lumière (John Viagus), Cogsworth (Simon Pickup), Babette (Jess Bragg), Madame de la Grande Bouche (Sophie Congleton) Mrs. Potts (Janine Royle), and Chip (Jay Jackson), and begins to see the Beast’s true kindness beneath his gruff exterior.
As their bond deepens, Belle’s love and understanding begin to break the curse. Meanwhile, back in the village, the arrogant and boisterous Gaston (Michael Corteen) plots to marry Belle, leading to conflict and tension as he stirs up the villagers against the Beast. The musical builds to a climactic moment when Belle’s love for the Beast helps break the spell, turning him back into a human prince.
This is a strong production with not a weak link on the stage, director Kit Phillips and choreographer Lauren Chapman have made use of the entire theatre with cast breaking the 4th wall entering and exiting through the auditorium at times, coupled with clever lighting from Nicholas Field. The march to the castle during ‘Kill the Beast’ being a particular standout.
A large orchestra of 10 led by Ben Evans-Clarke sounded sublime with one or two sound balance problems quickly dealt with. The costume department on this show have excelled themselves, not an easy task when the show calls for a human teapot, wardrobe, candlestick and clock to name just 4.
Gemma Chapman and Ben Vaughan are well cast, and it is a joy to see their relationship grow over the evening. Viagus and Pickup compete with Corteen and Samuel Salisbury who plays Lefou for the best double act in the show receiving the majority of the laughs.
The three silly girls (Theresa Stephenson, Jess Carter and Beatrice Dorsch) shine while being obsessed with Gaston and the ensemble do not put a foot wrong all night. The large scale musical numbers such as ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Human Again’ were well staged and drew some of the biggest ovations from tonight’s audience. Royle’s performance of the title song, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was enchanting, and Vaughan showed his amazing vocals with the emotional and powerful ‘If I Can’t Love Her’ which closes act 1.
I have to mention the transformation at the end of the show from Beast to Prince, one of the best I have seen since I saw the professional production a number of years ago, very clever and effective.
The show continues until the 23rd February with 2 performances on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are selling fast and can be found HERE!
Reviewer: Paul Downham
Reviewed: 18th February 2025
North West End UK Rating:
Rating: 4 out of 5.
