Beauty and the Beast Panto at Mercury Theatre Review
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Beauty and the Beast Panto at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester
We were invited along to the press night of Beauty and the Beast Panto at Mercury Theatre in Colchester. It had everything you would expect from a panto… the fun and laughter (for both adults and children) but with an extra sparkle… this panto dazzled with the quality of a Westend show!
The show had amazing costumes, bright and sparkling stage set design and the cast and ensemble were a truly talented bunch. The singing was fantastic throughout, with lots of well known tracks along with more musical numbers. The comedy was spot on! Betty Bon Bon and Almonde certainly know how to work the crowd. The whole audience erupted in laughter throughout the show and happily joined in with any audience participation! There was also of course lots of boos to join in, for the panto villain Spite, she was fantastic as the wicked witch.
The Story
The pantomime loosely followed the story of Beauty and the Beast with added panto twists and turns. Belle, a bright young girl looking for adventure meets a handsome prince… they hit it off and there is chemistry between them from the outset… until a wicked enchantress casts a spell on the prince in a jealous rage. Turning him into a beast and banished him to a castle.
We meet Belle’s hilarious family. Her mother, Betty bonbon, the panto dame and Almonde, her sweet but very silly brother. They run a sweet shop in town. They all venture off together to buy sugar to save the family business before stumbling into trouble and finding themselves at the castle. Silly Almonde gets in to trouble with the Beast and Belle sacrifices herself to save him, she agrees to stay at the castle. In time (and with some help from Cupid) Belle and the Beast grow fonder of one another, but will Belle fall in love with the beast in time before the last rose petal falls?
It’s a tale as old as time and a panto that will be unmissable for the whole family. Discover what it
takes for true love to conquer all and whether love is all you really need!’
Our thoughts
There was so much fun and frolics along the way. We couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, laugh out loud and clap along, the whole way through! It was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.
Mercury Theatre’s Beauty and Beast really was panto perfection!
My daughter said ‘It was really funny and enjoyable’ and she loved Betty Bon Bon as she was really funny chatting up all the men in audience and said ‘Belle had a really good singing voice’.
This was an all round great Pantomime and I have no problems recommending this for some great family fun!
The Cast
The cast were absolutely fantastic, each character played their part perfectly, right through to the ensemble who very cleverly played several roles. We couldn’t help falling in love with Belle, Alexandra Barredo has such a beautiful voice and really suited the role perfectly. I couldn’t fault a single performance, they were all so good. A special shout out to Betty Bon Bon and Almonde they had us all laughing and giggling with a few jokes added in for just us adults too.
Cast List:
- Antony Stuart-Hicks (Betty Bon Bon)
- Dale Superville (Almondé)
- Alexandra Barredo (Belle)
- Daniel Jagusz-Holley (Prince Friedrich/ Beast)
- Sasha Latoya (L’Amour/Cupid)
- Jaimie Pruden (Spite)
- Shelby Speed (Hemlock)
- Nick Brittain (Toadstool)
It had everything you’d want from panto, the perfect combination of laughter, music, singing, dancing, booing, a good dollop of audience participation and a sprinkling of glitter! The perfect panto!
Running dates:
26 November 2022 – 15 January 2023
Venue:
Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester CO1 1PT
Show running time:
Approx. 2hr 45mins, incl. interval
Price:
£15.00 – £32.50.
For more information or to book tickets, please visit Mercury Theatre’s website.
They feature on our list of Christmas Days out without Santa or check out some ideas of free and cheap family days out.
We were invited for press night but all comments and opinions are strictly my own.
