It’s that time of year folks when all ages take to the theatre to enjoy lots of family entertainment with plenty of comedy to give those moments of pure laughter, this year Beauty and the Beast has arrived at Venue Cymru with a star-studded cast to entertain you until the 31st of December.
This year’s panto at Venue Cymru in Llandudno sees CBeebies star Rebecca Keatley leading the cast of Beauty and the Beast as Belle and she has been joined by venue favourites John Evans, James Lusted and Jason Marc Williams. Additional cast includes Jenna Brandon, Mark Beauchamp, Neil Moors, Peter Lawrence, Erin Bell, Euan Libaudiere and George Lynham.
Rebecca is delighted to be joining the cast at Venue Cymru this Christmas and said: “I’m thrilled to be spending the festive season in Wales this Christmas, playing one of my all-time favourite characters Belle, in Beauty and the Beast. I’m really looking forward to spending Christmas near the seaside in Llandudno at the beautiful Venue Cymru alongside such a talented group of people. I’m also hoping to brush up on my GCSE Welsh”.
When an arrogant Prince is cursed to live as a beast his only hope of salvation is to find love before the last petal falls from a magic rose. When village girl, Belle comes into his life is this the chance he has been waiting for?
It’s always a pleasure to head out to the panto at Venue Cymru and this year was no exception, I braved the cold and icy weather to give my chuckle muscles the long-overdue workout they needed, Beauty and the Beast is a story that we all know, but as this is a panto production we get some wonderful songs throughout the show along with some great comedy from the “very good” John Evans who plays Simon Le Bon-Bon, I have to say that John had me laughing rather loudly this year and it’s always a joy to see him on the stage.
Before I go on to the rest of the performance of the show, I would just like to say that the set design for this year’s Pantomime is amazing, the set design uses every inch of the large stage at Venue Cymru to whisk us away on a fantasy adventure from the little town to the Beast’s castle.
Adding to the stage design is the lighting that is used to perfection for the added feel of the fantasy world of Pantomime, a delight to see on the stage.
Beauty and the Beast bring together a cast that all work wonderfully together, the comedy timing is great to see and the jokes are not just for the kids, there are moments that are thrown in for the adults to laugh out as well, which works perfectly when you have an audience of all ages watching the show.
As I mentioned earlier John Evans is always a joy to watch and to laugh along with during his “dad” jokes and comedic moments. Jason Marc-Williams was great as Nanna Nina who had some superb costumes that were suited so well for the dame of the performance and had me in stitches when Nina was looking for her Willy (Belle’s father) played by Mark Beauchamp.
James Lusted was great as Bob and his performance was fun to watch as always, his comedic performance worked so well during his stage time along with the cast and especially with Neil Moors who played Barry Island.
The flow was kept nice with Fairy Blodwen (Jenna Brandon) who brought us an introduction to the show and updates on the story throughout the show.
Rebecca Keatley was a delight to watch as Belle and she certainly capitated the audience with her lovely musical numbers, such a great voice to listen to during the performances. Let’s not forget about the Beast who was played by Peter Lawrence. I have to give a two thumbs up to Peter for a great moment in his performance when there was a slight mic malfunction and a perfectly planted palm of hand mic was performed seamlessly to continue his musical number with Rebecca, nicely done.
Produced by Imagine Theatre, Beauty and the Beast is a show that went by far too quickly and I was wanting it to keep going. The panto is written by Christian Patterson and co-directed by Jason Marc-Williams and Carole Todd, Rachel Sargent’s Choreography is lovely to watch and makes the most of the stage space to use it well.
The Musical Direction from Steve Clark certainly had my toes tapping and had me singing along to the popular songs, Matthew Ladkin’s Lighting Design looks amazing and the Sound Design by Scott Smith-Andrews worked so well with some great sound effects and more to help us along on our panto journey.
Beauty and the Beast had me laughing so much at one point I had tears rolling down my cheeks, this is a Pantomime that you really don’t want to miss, so book your tickets now and discover if Belle can see beyond appearances and learn to love a beast!
Tickets are on sale now at venuecymru.co.uk. Don’t forget to check out our interview with the cast of Beauty and the Beast.
It's Panto Season!!!
Event Title: Beauty and the Beast
Event Description: It's panto season and we popped along to see this year's pantomime, Beauty and the Beast.
Start date: December 10, 2022
End date: December 31, 2022
Location name: Venue Cymru
Address: Promenade Llandudno, LL30 1BB
Offer price: 20.50
Currency: GBP
Summary
A Pantomime that is lots of fun for all ages, the perfect family night out.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
