The wait is over! The curtain has finally gone up on Beauty and the Beast, which will run until Sunday 9 January 2022 with a total of 56 performances.
“We all really missed the pantomime last year and we welcome our audiences back with open arms,” said Clare Allen, the Theatre’s Chief Executive and writer and director of Beauty and the Beast.
“Pantomime is one of our country’s great traditions and an important part of many families’ Christmas celebrations. Indeed, we get people travelling to our Theatre from far and wide and it is an event that embraces everyone from great-grandparents to tiny tots.”
Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as pantomime itself and this production is particularly beautiful, with an amazing set, stunning costumes and, of course, lashings of family humour and quick-fire jokes.
Leading the cast is new dame, Nick O’Connor. The Liverpudlian actor is no stranger to the Georgian Theatre having delighted audiences as the deliciously evil Abanazar in the most recent production of Aladdin (2019), Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (2018), and the lion in The Wizard of Oz (2017).
Another popular Richmond pantomime actor returning to the Beauty and the Beast line-up is Alex Moran who played the part of the genie (aka Freddie Mercury) in the 2019 production of Aladdin. He will be taking on the roles of Lumiere, Cogsworth and Ridgeley.
Appearing as Belle is Lucy Carne who will be playing opposite Ben Andrew taking the part of the Beast and Prince. Completing the acting line-up is Marcus Jones as Gaston.
Finally, providing the all-important musical accompaniment is musical director Daniel Bowater and musician Alastair James – reprising their roles from the most recent Richmond production of Aladdin.
The chorus is made up of three groups of talented young performers – drawn from local schools – that have become a mainstay of this popular family-style of pantomime.
Tickets cost from £12 to £22 and are available from the Box Office on 01748 825252 or via the online booking service on this website.