Alan Menken’s classic score for Beauty and the Beast is shown off to its best at the London Palladium in this suitably charming production based on Disney’s animated film.
As more West End shows have to cancel shows, industry figures respond to ‘inadequate’ Government insurance scheme
Though theatres are now operating at full capacity (if they choose to) — and audiences are wearing masks only if they choose to, as well — there is a great deal of uncertainty, as performances are being routinely suspended at the very last minute if a cast member proves positive or has come into contact with someone who has.
NEWS: Christopher Haydon announces his inaugural season at the Rose Theatre Kingston
Having been appointed Rose Theatre’s artistic director in January 2020, Christopher Haydon was prevented from announcing his inaugural season until now due to Covid-19. With an emphasis on the female voice, the season will include five Rose Original productions – including two world premieres and a new version of an epic Brechtian masterpiece.
As restrictions lift, Mark Shenton offers a comprehensive update on opening nights in London & across the UK
This weekly column keeps track of the shows that are coming back, or are newly being announced, as theatres start reopening from tonight (17 May) in London and at other theatres in the UK.
NEWS: A re-imagined & re-designed Beauty & the Beast begins a UK & Ireland tour in May 2021
Disney’s Olivier Award-winning stage musical Beauty and the Beast is to be re-imagined and re-designed in a completely new production staged by the original award-winning creative team, and will open a UK and Ireland tour in May 2021.
‘Energy & chemistry fizzes throughout’: BEAUTY & THE BEAST – King’s Head Theatre
Fat Rascal Theatre Company has created magic in its gender-swapped, musical parody of Beauty and the Beast.
BEAUTY & THE BEAST (A Musical Parody) – King’s Head Theatre
No opportunity to parody Disney’s Beauty & The Beast is passed up, from the wealth of French influences (the Camembert Art Fair; the under-rated star of the show – Bicyclette!) to James Ringer-Beck’s score which combines original numbers with deliciously close-to-the-bone rewrites of some familiar tunes.
BEAUTY & THE BEAST – Musselburgh ★★★★
A splendid script and pitch-perfect performances make a tale as old as time feel as fresh as a daisy at Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre.
BEAUTY & THE BEAST – Bristol ★★★★
If Christmas shows are measured by the smile it puts on our faces and the gales of laughter elicited from the younger ones, then this is a stone-iron smash.
BEAUTY & THE BEAST – Touring
A Prince obsessed with his looks cursed by an evil Fairy, transformed into a Beast, will need to learn to love another and earn her love in return to break the spell. With not a dancing candlestick in sight, I would recommend reading the story beforehand.