Beauty and the Beast - What a let-down

Guna, Sharon and myself saw the above pantomime last night and it was unanimous that it was a disappointment. Considering last year's Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs was a massive hit, we had high hopes for this one. Alas, we left feeling unsatisfied. Personally, I was geared up to be intellectually stimulated but there were minimal jokes and the few jokes that were incorporated into the script, were Ris Low-themed. I felt it was overdone especially since the jokes have been done and re-done in YouTube and where ever else. I expected something more or at the very least, something different. We ALL know the blunders Ris made, so what? Why rehash them? Still, those jokes garnered quite a few laughs from the audience.

Unfortunately, the sisters stole the show away from both the Beauty and the Beast characters. They were drag... so their characters were exaggerated... even more so than what a pantomime would entail. I still think drag is overdone in local theatre. You see a drag character come on stage, you know what to expect. Again, so what? I want to see something different. It is a pity though, that the leads did not have the chemistry needed to tighten the show and the numbers that they did together. They could sing, I have to give them that. However, that's about all that they could do. The sisters, couldn't sing but they were very animated and kept the audience engaged and entertained. All the other characters were forgettable. Pity.

I felt like I was watching Beauty and the Beast. The original version, with not much change to the plot. In other words, the pantomime was not creative nor was it a memorable one. The songs were not catchy, smart, thought-provoking or well-written at all. The lines were very cliche, I felt. Any amateur could have written them, not trying to sound arrogant here but truthfully speaking. Also, the whole playing on racial stereotypes is also overdone - the accents, the mannerisms... it was all too predictable... and some were used in Snow White as well. Thus adding to the lack of creativity in the latter script.

All in all, it was a mediocre production in my opinion. We're catching Animal Farm next year. That promises to be brilliant. So I can't wait!