Beauty and the Beast
★★★★☆ Impressive
Church Hill Theatre: Tue 1 – Sat 5 Apr 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
EMT’s Beauty and the Beast at the Church Hill until Saturday is a hugely appealing and colourful production, guaranteed to please.
This is the 1994 stage adaptation of the 1991 Disney animation, whose story of enchantment surely needs no introduction. Like the film (to which it stays very close), it has a book by Linda Woolverton, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (with some additional songs with lyrics by Tim Rice).
Sheona Dorrian, Andrew Hally, Sarah-Louise Donnelly and Peter Tomassi with EMT’s Beauty and the Beast Ensemble as members of Beast’s household. Pic: Adamantia Tserkezoglou.
It would be difficult for modern audiences to imagine a time when Disney’s position as a dominant force in the entertainment world was ever in doubt, and when animations were never even considered for awards (and when remaking them for Broadway or as live action movies was unthinkable). Yet all of these things were true when the film followed The Little Mermaid in becoming such a surprise critical success, and then became Disney’s first stage adaptation.
endlessly invitive
The musical relies heavily on recreating the visual appeal of the film, masked Beast, human clocks and candlesticks and all. Director Louise Sables has done an excellent job, producing an endlessly invitive, comic and pacy spectacle.
A huge cast do justice to Chanel Turner-Ross’s inventive choreography, and the featured performers are uniformly impressive.
Lauren McAnna, Sheona Dorrian, Wallis Hamilton Carmichael, Peter Tomassi and Sarah-Louise Donnelly with EMT’s Beauty and the Beast Ensemble and featured dancers as members of Beast’s household. Pic: Adamantia Tserkezoglou.
Wallis Hamilton Carmichael’s Belle is extremely well acted, having both the naivete and the determination that the character needs, as well as an amazingly powerful and tuneful voice. Perhaps too powerful on occasion; she can fall into that familiar trap of wanting to start at full volume and then go upwards, when a little more restraint would work wonders.
Such restraint is in evidence in Seb Schneeberger’s Beast, who is believably cruel and yet sympathetic. Louis Delaney’s empty-headed muscleman Gaston is pitched just right for maximum comedy, while Sean Vannet is gloriously unrestrained as his sidekick LeFou. David Bartholomew is touchingly believable as Belle’s father Maurice.
spirit and comic nous
The enchanted members of the Beast’s household are played with spirit and comic nous by Peter Tomassi, Andrew Hally, Lauren McAnna, Sheona Dorrian, Sarah-Louise Donnelly and Mia Hatch. Tomassi’s French candlestick Lumiere and Hally’s self-important clock Cogsworth are an especially pleasing comic duo, but they all shine. Their costumes are hugely effective, with the depiction of Hatch’s teacup Chip particularly clever.
The other featured performers – Kirsty Carolan as the enchantress, Katie McNulty’s narrator, Cameron Kirby as Monsieur D’Arque – all perform with skill, while Lindsay MacLaren, Elizabeth Martin and Amanda Woodhouse, as Gaston’s trio of swooning admirers, are great fun.
Peter Tomassi (centre as Lumiere) with EMT’s Beauty and the Beast featured dancers as members of Beast’s household. Pic: Adamantia Tserkezoglou.
The ensemble, who number another 22 on top of the aforementioned, are remarkably well drilled and sing and dance up a storm. The big ensemble numbers such as Gaston or Be Our Guest are a visual treat.
MD Libby Crabtree’s nine-piece band are unflagging and tuneful, with (some initial glitches aside) none of the problems with sound balance and audibility that sometimes occur in the Church Hill when such huge numbers are involved. Rhys Turner’s sound design (like Jacob Henney’s lighting) is ambitious but carried off with aplomb.
somewhat relentless
It would seem unfair to criticise a musical based on a cartoon for being too full-on and two-dimensional, but that is probably the production’s only real flaw. The comic elements are more convincing than the emotional content, mainly because it is all somewhat relentless. Suffice it to say that if you are one of those people who objects to musicals as being unsubtle escapism, this won’t cure you.
The stage can start to seem just a little too full in the ensembles; the LED backdrops, which are hugely impressive, become over-fussy. The stage crew are so keen to shift furniture that they are at risk of bumping into the cast. At times you just want an opportunity to draw breath.
EMT’s Beauty and the Beast Ensemble as Villagers. Pic: Adamantia Tserkezoglou.
When more light and shade does arrive, it is correspondingly all the more welcome and all the more impressive. Schneeberger’s take on If I Can’t Love Her at the close of the first half is considered and genuinely emotional. McAnna’s version of Mrs Potts’s title song is all the more affecting for being comparatively understated. McAnna is also Head of Wardrobe and so is one of many to deserve credit for the outstanding costumes; she is also responsible for the Beast’s tremendous prosthetics.
hugely impressive
Indeed, there are many elements here which would suggest a budget many times that which EMT have at their disposal. So many people have clearly put their heart and soul into this production, and the result is hugely impressive on so many levels.
Running time: Two hours and 25 minutes (including one interval)
Church Hill Theatre, 30 Morningside Rd, EH10 4DR
Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 April 2025
Daily at 7.30 pm; Sat at 2.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
EMT Website: https://edinburghmusictheatre.co.uk
Facebook: @edinburghmusictheatre
Instagram: @edmusictheatre
TikTok: @edmusictheatre
The principal cast of EMT’s Beauty and the Beast. Pic: Adamantia Tserkezoglou.
ENDS
