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Romantic tale amid the gloom
Ravens among the animals in BRB's Beauty and the Beast. Picture: Bill Cooper Beauty and the Beast
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** PERHAPS it is unfamiliarity with the
story, after all, despite a Disney animation, it is hardly up the top
end of the fairy tale league tables; perhaps it is the music, which,
although pleasing, with moments of drama and moments of tenderness, is
hardly memorable, or perhaps more accurately, well known, but this was a
production that seemed to lack that spark we have come to expect from
BRB. It was danced beautifully, particularly the lead
roles of Elisha Willis as Belle supported by Tyrone Singleton as The
Beast, Philip Prowse’s designs were big, heavy and gothic for beastly
goings on and light and domesticated for the merchant’s house,
The music from The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, under
conductor Gavin Sutherland, was, as always played to perfection, indeed
such is the quality of this orchestra they are only really worth a
mention these days if they get something wrong, otherwise you can take
it as read they were good. Leader of
the David Bintley’s choreography gave us comedy, with
Belle’s sisters Fière and Vanité, danced by Angela Paul and Samara Downs
and Monseieur Cochon, danced by Jonathan Payn, a delight, while Marion
Tait as the grandmother is turning the part of cantankerous old crones
into an art form. The dance at the wedding reception where Cochon
is to marry . . . one of the sisters, is a comedy delight with the rich
merchant, danced by Michael O’Hare getting his shins rapped by
grandmamma. Cochon never does decide who he is going to
marry, with the choice really coming down to which of the sisters is
likely to cause him the most physical damage if she is rejected. It gave us drama, passion, poignancy and
tenderness and with Bintley working closely with the composer Glen Buhr
and designer Philip Prowse from the beginning there is a feeling of
completeness, that the three major elements of a ballet are all working
in unison. There are some clever touches, such as the
self-pouring jug in the beast’s castle, his self-propelled chair with
arms, literally arms, the sort that can embrace you, or the birds
decorating the merchant’s house which move as the ravens of the corps
are introduced. All the elements are there, the beautiful damsel,
the handsome but hedonistic prince turned into a beast by the Woodsman,
danced by Valentin Olovyannikov, to protect the fox, Laura Day, who in
turn is transformed into a wild girl, danced by Yaoqian Shang. We have the beauty, and her two mean sisters, who
is at first repulsed and then falls in love with the beast, who is then
released from the spell by the Woodsman so that everyone can live
happily ever after. The End. Everything is in place, the elements fit together
perfectly, but sadly that certain spark was missing. To 04-10-14. Roger Clarke
30-09-14
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while
Mark Jonathan’s lighting was wonderful to behold, a masterclass of how
to light gloom, picking out salient points, highlighting drama and using
piercing pencils of light through a haze of smoke.