I don’t use a star system to grade the things I review. My reasoning for this is that the top rating would mean, should something come along which was palpably better than those to which I had allocated five stars, I could not do it justice. In 1999 the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab was so opulent that it was classified as the world’s first Six-Star Hotel, which illustrates my point perfectly. I am not saying that if I did have a star system I would give Beauty And The Beast five stars, far from it, I would probably allocate it at least eight!
Ironically it earns this accolade for the exact opposite reasons to the hotel, which relies on absolute perfection in every aspect of its facilities and service, here it is the imperfections which made this pantomime the best thing I can remember having seen. No megastars to drag in the punters, just superb actors who delivered two and a half hours of pure joy and entertainment – apart from the odd weepy interlude to compensate. I am lucky to have quite a lot of readers all over the world, especially in the USA, so this article might be a difficult read as I think that the UK is the only nation which boasts this art form.
The story begins. Harry Wyatt as Madame Bellie Fillop sets the whole thing in motion. Her headwear being a bit of an eyeful.
For the benefit of my Pan-Global readership – Wow! I’m beginning to impress myself here, pantomime is a theatrical interpretation of a children’s story which uses the narrative in order to showcase a series of vignettes and sketches. It also relies on several catch-phrases both traditional and written especially for the show. This evening’s offering was set in France, but had lots of references to Harrogate – another custom is to tailor the show to its location. There is also a large amount of cross dressing, the Handsome Prince normally being a woman and the Dame, a man. The audience is never allowed to forget the gender of the performer though, as the Prince wears a short costume and tights to show off her legs, and the Dame will keep slipping into a low voice register for laughs. Actually, this production reflected the gender inclusive times in which we live, in that the Handsome Prince was played by a man. Right on! The main element of the genre, however, is the audience participation. It can sometimes be embarrassing but here it was superbly handled, especially in the way that one person was picked out to help the whole thing drive along. There was not the slightest bit of humiliation involved and the hapless Carl, for that was his name, was made to feel that the whole shebang depended on him.
The company. L to R. Harry Wyatt, Zak Atkinson, Joanne Sandi, Anna Campkin, Colin Kiyani, Ellen Carnazza and Michael Lambourne.
There were six main characters, five ostensibly French: The Prince/Beast, played by Colin Kyani; Belle/Dance Captain, Anna Campkin; Baron Bon Bon, Michael Lambourne; Madame Bellie Fillop (Belly Flop), Harry Wyatt and her son Phillipe (Flip Flop) now you are getting it, Tim Stedman. Mona Lisa The Sorceress was an American, played by Joanne Sandi. Two other actors made up the Ensemble/Swing section; Zach Atkinson and Harrogate’s own Ellen Caranazza who I have witnessed in several productions usually of more heft, never dreaming I would have the pleasure of seeing her in Panto. That’s versatile acting for you. The rest of the Ensemble comprises a dozen female dancers who are split into three groups of four, alternating each night. They all auditioned for the show and the troupe on the night were absolutely superb, as I am sure the other two will be.
The story is of a handsome Prince who is well on the arrogant side. One day a poverty-stricken woman arrives at his castle asking for food, but he turns her away, at which point – or should that be witch point – she draws back her shawl to reveal that she is a beautiful sorceress and puts a spell on him. The curse is that he becomes hideous looking, and the only way he can revert to his former self is by learning how to love by the time he reaches his 21st Birthday. She gives him a red rose which acts as a timer, losing its last petal on the fateful day. The love barometer is provided by a magic mirror given to the Prince by the Sorceress, Mona Lisa. When someone looks into it it reveals the face of the one who loves them, in the Prince’s case it bears no reflection at all.
Baron Bon Bon, Michael Lambourne being caught stealing a rose by Beast, Colin Kiani
The local baker goes to the castle to pick a rose for his daughter, Belle, but he is caught by the Prince who threatens to kill him unless he brings her to stay with him. This wish is carried out and eventually the two fall in love, but not until it is seemingly too late and the Prince slips into a coma. He is brought back to life through the love of Belle and all ends well.
The patisserie owned by Baron Bon Bon is the main setting for most of the action and is obviously a goldmine for puns. Phillipe Fillop begins by presenting the full range of confectionery in the form of a story made up almost entirely of them. He asks Bellie Fillop, his mother why there were no doughnuts to which she replied that she had stopped selling them as she had become fed up with the whole business – hole business – doughnut. Never mind!
The family Fillop. Harry Wyatt as Bellie, who makes acting look like a piece of cake, Tim Steadman as Phillipe, Anna Campkin as Belle and Michael Lambourne, Baron Bon Bon.
The first piece of business utilised a frame with a curtain suspended from it which was rotated to show all four sides before Phillipe went behind it and put his head and hands through holes in the cloth. As the conversation moved on, his hands slowly moved down to the floor whilst his head moved to the top of the curtain, the head then sank to the bottom and the hands rose to the top. It is something we have seen lots of times before and it was brilliantly done. The kids were gobsmacked.
A routine later on in the show did not go totally, or even remotely, to plan when the scene shifted to the Prince’s kitchen which was in the cellar of his castle where Phillipe and Baron Bon Bon were doing the washing up. They were shown how the dirty crockery would be delivered to them by means of two chutes, one either side of the stage down which the priceless plates would roll. They must be caught and on no account be broken. There were a couple of practice runs which went very well but then the platters began arriving at a quicker pace. This was obviously so that they would be unable to be caught and smash on the floor. The material from which the props were made was obviously a bit tougher than anticipated, and, instead of breaking they just flopped down in tact.
Tim Steadman as Phillipe Fillop and Michael Lambourne as Baron Bon Bon collecting the plates – or not – from the chutes at either side of the stage
This is where the true artistry of the actors kicked in with their improvisation on the disaster – or non-disaster, being hilarious. They both kept strictly to character whilst bouncing ad libs off one another and flashing the odd desperate glance to the audience. On another occasion Baron Bon Bon forgot his lines, which would have been funny in itself, but Phillipe was determined to be of no help to him whatsoever, leaving the Baron to wheedle his way out as best he could. It was superbly done, ending with Phillipe saying that they had better be going to the Prince’s castle, maybe stopping off to buy a script on the way. He then went to the front of the stage and made an aside saying “Do you think anyone noticed that, Carl’.
Baron Bon Bon, Bellie Fillop and Phillipe Fillop
Mme Bellie Fillop was just as expressive and hilarious as the other two, coming on stage in a series of outrageous costumes, usually with a bakery motif. On one occasion her dress was made to look like a house with a For Sale sign on the front bearing the name of the estate agent Verity Frearson who sponsored the pantomime. When she held her arms wide the sleeves resembled a green vegetable enabling her to say that there was a leek in the roof. All very subtle stuff. There were also nods to Your Harrogate and Vet Dentist – why do people think that Harrogate is posh? I am happy to mention all of these organisations as they make sure that this wonderful tradition can be kept alive and no, I am not being remunerated for plugging them, if I were I would ask for the dosh to be donated to Harrogate Theatre, unless, of course, it ran to six figures!
Phillipe Fillop, and his mother Bellie rocking out with the Ensemble.
So, that is the comedic part covered, the love interest was obviously between The Beast and Belle, The Beauty. Colin Kiyani as the Prince and The Beast, was superb, being just on the right side of scary so as not to not give the kids sleepless nights, I didn’t get a wink but that might be because of the prostate. His singing was also very good indeed. Anna Campkin, lived up to her name as Beauty/Belle, also possessing a fine voice and great terpsichorean skills. It can’t be easy playing the sweet, innocent girl when those around you are leaving the audience either rolling in the aisles or quaking in their boots. Speaking of which, a pantomime is not a pantomime without a villain. Here again, we had something unusual in that the role was filled, not by some moustache-twirling cad but by a woman, Mona Lisa the Sorceress, who was probably a bigger threat than any bloke could ever be. Joanne Sandi had the part well and truly nailed. She was superb at giving as good as she got when her every appearance was greeted by loud booing – that’s a Bronx Cheer to my Transatlantic readers.
Joanne Sandi as Mona Lisa The Sorceress
Ms Sandi’s singing was as much a revelation as the comedic talent of the leads. Looking at her bio in the programme, she has appeared in several adverts, for companies such as McDonalds, DFS and Wrigley’s, but what is most impressive is that she has played the young Tina Turner in a SwissCom ad – alongside the remarkable Mrs Turner herself! I am not surprised as her voice was phenomenal. The villainous image was enhanced by her costume which echoed that of Elphaba in Wicked.
The Full Company
Beauty And The Beast, written by David Brown from an original idea by Phil Lowe and Directed by Marcus Romer, runs at Harrogate Theatre until 19th January, 2025. Should you be in need of a night or afternoon of awe and wonder, get your tickets at https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/events/beauty-and-the-beast/ where you can also find out what else is playing at Harrogate Theatre in the near future. There are BSL signed, Audio Described, Captioned and Relaxed Performances so everyone is welcome. I do warn you, however, that because of its age (125 next year) there is no lift so should you have mobility problems opt for the stalls.
Beauty (Belle) and The Beast. They all lived happily ever after.
You will probably have gathered by now the I absolutely loved this show, it took me back to my childhood in the 1950s when I would be taken to Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds Empire or even The Theatre Royal in that city. Here, however, the more intimate surroundings of the sedate Victorian Theatre made the whole experience really special, so much so that I eschewed the temptation of a beer at the interval and did what I absolutely needed to do and queued for an ice cream. Being Harrogate it was from local dairy and bloody delicious.
Photographs and feature image provided by Harrogate Theatre
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