Review: Beauty and the Beast at Parr Hall

Last week I went to see the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ panto at the Parr Hall in Warrington for its opening night and it was brilliant!

The story of Belle falling in love with the Beast, whilst trying to avoid the evil Gaston, is a tale as old as time, but the Parr Hall’s take felt fresh and exciting.

There’s a star-studded cast for this year’s production, with X Factor’s Jake Quickenden taking on the role of Gaston, and the Chase’s Anne Hegerty returning to the Parr Hall panto, this time as the Fairy Rose.

Jake Quickenden’s performance was a highlight. He plays an excellent villain, and commanded the stage every time he appeared.

When I interviewed him about the show back in October, he spoke about how he was excited to perform in front of a Warrington audience, having heard that they could be a bit “lairy”.

For Jake’s performance, the audience definitely went wild!

Anne Hegerty is great as the Fairy Rose, even treating the audience to a song in the second act, which was a nice surprise!

The music used throughout the show is the perfect panto soundtrack, with a mix of songs old and new to engage audiences of all ages – Chappell Roan’s songs made a heavy feature this year which I very much enjoyed!

The dancers from Felicia Burns School of Dance were fabulous, performing in a range of styles throughout the entire performance.

The show is very funny, with comedic performances from a number of cast members, but also clever writing in the script, providing jokes for the adults which will go over the kids’ heads.

A particular highlight was Charlotte Buxton, who played Belle, and her rendition of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On amidst a scene of chaos on stage.

I won’t spoil the humour, but I have no idea how she managed to contain herself and continue performing without laughing.

Overall, this is a fabulous show which the whole family will be able to enjoy. You could tell that all of the cast members were loving being on stage and this radiated into the energy of the audience.

Beauty and the Beast is only at the Parr Hall until Sunday 11th January, so you need to be quick if you want to see this incredible performance.

There are still some tickets available for a number of shows, particularly for the morning performances.

There are two accessible performances also happening later in the week: a relaxed performance on Saturday 10th January, and a BSL signed show on Sunday 11th January.

To find out more information and to book, contact the Culture Warrington Box Office.