Review: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘A magical show’

It has been abundantly clear just how much Beauty and the Beast has slipped into the national consciousness by seeing the number of young girls wearing yellow Belle dresses on their way to the Hippodrome since this show opened in Bristol at the end of August.

So when it is Angela Lansbury – Mrs Potts in the 1991 Disney animation – who is the first voice heard on stage as the prologue narrator, you know that you’re in for a good show.

For fans of the House of Mouse, there is even an Easter egg in this latest stage revival: look out for the character on the napkin that Belle (Courtney Stapleton) wears when she makes her way for dinner in the kitchen.

That napkin is put on at the beginning of a Be Our Guest; which is less than four minutes in the original film but lasts at least twice as long here.

It is extravagant and extraordinary, with a tap-dancing Lumiere (Gavin Lee), backflipping candlesticks, can-can girls, pink spoons fashioned into hats, the Eiffel Tower on dresses, giant feathers, giant plates and even what can only be described as synchronised swimming out of the water.

Director Matt West is also the choreographer, and the dance routines feature much more than just jazz hands, with Be Our Guest the undoubted highlight but Gaston also turned up to 11, with tankards of beer used to liven up proceedings by doubling as percussion as Gaston (Tom Senior) laps up the attention of the village.

Beauty and the Beast at Bristol Hippodrome, with Courtney Stapleton as Belle and Emmanuel Kojo as Beast – photo: Johan Persson / Disney

We may be watching Beauty and the Beast but many of the minor characters come to the fore, especially the castle staff who are absolutely aware that their time is up unless their master is unable to find someone to love him.

Ghanaian-born Emmanuel Kojo as Beast is charisma and poise personified. But if only we could have seen more of him on stage, because he is only just more than an incidental role in this production.

As Belle, Courtney Stapleton is an effervescent presence. In a role that Toni Braxton once played on Broadway, she is the classic triple threat: acting, singing and dancing to the highest standard.

Lockdown has given Belle’s prolonged stay in Beast’s castle a new dimension after we were all imprisoned without much we could do about it for months on end.

If only I had a library like that in the castle. My subscription to the New Yorker magazine kept me sane, whereas Belle prefers the hardbacks as she slowly falls for Beast’s charms.

Around them, however, the show is stolen by the likes of the splendid Samantha Bingley as Wardrobe and the equally splendid Sam Bailey as Mrs Potts, more than matching the legendary Lansbury.

As the rose slowly wilts, there is Disney magic in abundance, animated wolves and thunderstorms, streamers raining down from the ceiling, and the terrific Tom Senior’s arms which almost deserve a credit of their own in the programme.

There cannot also have been a dry eye in the house when Chip (on press night played by the magnificent Manasseh Mapira) runs on – spoiler alert – as a boy once the curse has been lifted.

Reopening the Bristol Hippodrome after it had been closed for more than 18 months, this tale as old as time is a magical reintroduction to live theatre.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is at Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday. It then plays at Liverpool Empire, Edinburgh Playhouse, Cardiff Millennium Centre and Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. For tickets and more information, visit www.beautyandthebeastmusical.co.uk.

Main photo: Johan Persson / Disney

https://twitter.com/BeautyMusical/status/1438075026276761605

Read more: Beauty and the Beast cast and crew look forward to show opening in Bristol

Listen to Emmanuel Kojo and Courtney Stapleton in episode 16 of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: