The Exchange 1856 North Shields – until 2nd June 2024
Reviewed by Sandra Little
Presented by Astravaganza Entertainment and directed by David Ducasse
4****
This stage version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is currently being performed at North Shield’s recently renovated cultural hub. The magic created on stage here is spellbinding and the performance had the feel of a major production.
Most people are familiar with the Disney version of this story, know the characters involved and understand the the underlying themes of love and acceptance. We have the delightful and independent Belle, played by Amelia Cavagan. She is a strong female role model for little girls in the audience and is not simply a pretty princess! The beast is played by Danny Emmerson-Ducasse and is suitably gruesome! In addition there is Gaston, who we all love to hate, played by Lewis Wilkinson. The other main character in the story is Belle’s inventor father Maurice who is played by Gary McGrogan. Unfortunately there are too many other members of the cast to name but all make a significant contribution to the story. Praise must also be given to the children ( especially Chip played by Leo Humphreys in Tuesday’s performance) who were so professional throughout. It is difficult to choose a favourite character from this huge ensemble, but if pressed I think I would have to choose Belle; I simply loved her facial expressions which contributed so much to the story.
Other aspects of this performance that made this version so special include the costumes, the special effects, lighting, computer graphics and of course the music . The costumes were simply stunning! They were so lavish and luxurious that they gave this show a very high class feel. Special effects, including pyrotechnics, added high drama to key moments in the story, lighting was often dramatic and definitely contributed to setting the mood for each scene. Much of the scenery was from computer generated images projected onto a backdrop and these cleverly designed images played an important part. The main hallway of the palace for example, felt very grand, as did the library that was revealed to Belle. The music in this show is taken directly from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast so there are songs that we all know and love that were sung beautifully by the cast. It is testament to the quality of this show that, despite knowing the story has a happy ending there were times when I was on the edge of my seat and holding my breath!
Granted seating at the venue is mainly on one level, the stage seemed a little small at times and some very minor tweaks to sound levels would help. However, bearing in mind that tickets are only £16, this show is exceptional value and probably means that children who would not normally experience a visit to the theatre were able to do so. It was definitely a performance of the quality you could expect when watching a much more expensive production in a larger theatre.