Royal Spa's Brilliant Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is presented by Imagine Theatre. Written by JP McCue and Sean Dodds, co-directed by JP McCue and Stephen Fletcher. Beauty and the Beast runs at the Royal Spa Centre & Town Hall, Leamington Spa, from 7 December – 5 January 2025.

Review by Ann Evans and Anya Stevens (aged 9)

I have one question. Where have I been these last 12 years!

This year’s Beauty and the Beast, written by JP McCue and Sean Dodds and starring this talented twosome is, I believe their 12th pantomime at the Royal Spa Centre and judging by the welcome they received on stage they have a loyal following. After attending the packed performance on Sunday afternoon with my daughter and grandchildren aged 9 and 11 count us all in as huge fans from now on!

The show really is one not to be missed. It’s so good you could truthfully say it brought the house down – literally! I might spill the beans on that further on in this review! But back to the plot – it’s riotous, hilarious, colourful and bursting with fun. It has a brilliantly witty script packed with humour and jokes that do actually make you laugh out loud. Every one of the cast and ensemble can sing and dance. The sets and scenery sparkle, the costumes are gorgeous and the characters are captivating.

Dame Dolly and Belle. Photo taken with permission.

Certainly, the audience loved the glamorous and outrageous Dame Dolly – whose alter ego is drag queen Mary Mac. Dame Dolly was dressed to kill in every scene with a spectacular wardrobe of glitzy high heels and boots to die for! My favourite outfit for her was as a Christmas bauble, mainly because of the expression on her face!

Dolly was on the lookout for a new boyfriend, and as she checked the audience out, she picked on Mark, sitting in an aisle seat and wearing an I Love Dolly T-Shirt. An easy target for Dolly – and a great sport. Mark willingly sang ‘Hello Dolly’ on cue every time and got splattered in creamy foam in the traditional slapstick scene.

Sean Dodds plays Billy Battenburg Bakewell. Photo courtesy of Imagine Theatre.

Sean Dodds as Billy Battenburg Bakewell was equally as entertaining. A fabulously energetic performance from him, and truly hilarious – especially in The Twelve Days of Christmas routine. When – thanks to some flying toilet rolls, they brought the house down – literally… I could elaborate but I won’t. What accidentally happened was so hilarious, who knows, they might actually write it into the script…

The beautiful Belle is played perfectly by Selen Berry who sees beyond the fearsome outward appearance of the once arrogant Prince Oscar, cursed to live his life as a terrifying Beast. His one hope of salvation is to find love before the last petal falls from a magic rose. I loved the dramatic scenes involving Belle and the Beast at the castle, and some great singing too. Ellie Moloney who plays the Enchantress is another actor with a fantastic singing voice.

Harry Pudwell as Edgar. Photo courtesy of Imagine Theatre.

Harry Pudwell as Edgar is the villain of the story – the one we all love to boo. But he’s not your usual villain – in fact he’s pretty gorgeous and totally irresistible! Well, he thinks so anyway! A hilarious performance by him.

Eliza Waters plays Collette, Belle’s mother and the ensemble includes Demi Brooks, Oliver Ward, Alexander Stillie plus a group of talented local youngsters whose dance routines were just wonderful – like the whole of the pantomime.

The finale. Photo taken with permission.

You’ll have guessed that I loved this panto, but don’t take my word for it. Nine-year-old Anya Stevens from Ashby-de-la-Zouch was writing her own review. Here’s what she said:

“It starts with a bang which was surprising, and I thought the scenery and effects were really good. Dame Dolly Marmalade was weird, funny and unique. She was funny when she asked Mark to be her new boyfriend, but I think she regrets her choice. Dolly had a change of outfit every time you saw her – made from very weird cloth!

Edgar was weird and he annoyed Belle. He was also mean, selfish, rude and horrible. It was funny when everyone booed him. Billy was funny, funny, funny! Especially when Billy and Dolly were talking about the guards’ names.

The Christmas song was also very funny, especially when… (spoiler alert!)

The Beast was actually kind and good, and he was a very good singer. The scene with the rose petals was really good. This is the funniest pantomime that I’ve seen.”