⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹” – Small House Big Trips
The students of Birmingham Ormiston Academy and Director Alec Fellows-Bennett have done it yet again, bringing yet another 𝗳𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 to The Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham, for families this Christmas.
A re-imagined version of Beauty and the Beast with original score (I warn you, the songs are catchy), energetic choreography, wonderful stage design, creative costumes and magical parts to keep you enthralled.
We follow the story of Belle [Mabel Edwards] who finds herself trapped inside an enchanted castle in the depths of a dark forest. Belle has been captured by the grotesque (but impressive looking) Beast [Cameron Dews] and like the story we all know and love, there’s a spell that needs to be broken…or is there?
This reimagined version of the traditional story is told through the eyes and ears of three loner schoolkids who have been taken under the wing of a sympathetic teacher Madame Villeneuve [Freya Hancox], who having seen that they are not down with the popular crew (‘the perfects’) of the school, tries to show them what really matters. If you’re a fan of Mean Girls (and if you aren’t why on earth not?) then this will definitely suit you.
As we move through the story, we switch between the school and the story, and very often these intertwine and cross over with each other as characters from both interact, with more then a few nods and winks to the audience as well. Its wonderfully done and the charm and charisma of the young actors is apparent from the start.
Speaking of those actors, it’s always amazing to us how the students of BOA take to the stage and look as natural and assured as any number of professionals we’ve seen over the years. Better than the professionals on more than one occasion.
Our standouts here were the ones who were here to get the audience laughing [Avenant] played by Max Coleman (you’ll likely know him better as Gaston, as he is named in the Disney production) and also Molly Russell who played Plumeau, the enchanted French feather duster at the Beasts chateaux. Both of them got plenty of laughs and reactions from the audience.
That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the cast though: their chemistry together was plain to see and they had the audience eating out of their hand. We’ve not often seen an ensemble cast work so well together but I do suppose being at college together day after day helps build that rapport that was so on display when they were bouncing off each other.
Lets talk about those songs for a moment. We were promised catchy and Steve Allan Jones has more than delivered on that. We have a number of new tunes, the catchiest probably being the theme that repeats its way through the entire play, but apart from that the stand out for me was the opening number all about the wonderfulness (please note: not actually always wonderful) of the various social media platforms vying for everyone’s attention. Follow Me and I’ll Love You Forever definitely has a different meaning these days.
Our girls loved their night out at the theatre. Matilda was thrilled when the cast got all up close and personal with the audience in the second act (no spoilers, but just wait and see) and tells us her favourite character was Theo [AJ Savage] and Jemima was so happy to see the cast altogether on stage for the traditional closing number for her to sing and clap along to and tells us her favourite was Grace [Olivia Brown] because she was so beautiful.
We absolutely love the yearly Christmas Show at the Old Rep with the BOA students. Traditional productions are our bread and butter but it is heart-warming to see the next generation take the stage and be given a chance to stand beside and challenge the professionals every year at Christmas. Every time they knock it out of the park and its fantastic to see. We always keep an eye out for our favourites and love to see them appearing in other productions as their careers progress.
If you get the chance to go and see Beauty and the Beast, absolutely do.
If you are looking for your annual festive theatre production, absolutely choose this one. We would.
The show is on until Friday 16th December 2022.
𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸? 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝗼.
Book your tickets here: Beauty and the Beast Tickets
Professional photos by: John James