Surrey

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289.jpg" alt="Camberley Theatre panto, Beauty and the Beast" class="wp-image-44025" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-8289-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



’Twas the opening day at Camberley’s panto and the theatre was packed with sugar crazed kids ready to let rip.&nbsp;



And while there were certainly large doses of frivolous and high-voltage fun &#8211; this year’s panto also exuded a charm and sense of sophistication that raised it above all the usual panto cheese and absurdity. It was a wonderful mix which dialled up the feel-good factor ten-fold and kept the exuberant smalls in the audience enthralled and excited &#8211; as well as their parents.



Suzi Budd was back again this year to add a hefty sprinkling of fairy dust to proceedings as the show’s director. It’s her fifth time directing the Camberley panto, and I for one, hope this is a Christmas tradition that continues for many years. She promised a magical show of fantasy and fun &#8211; and that’s exactly what we got. It was all-singing and all-dancing &#8211; and you’re guaranteed to leave with a light heart and a smile on your face.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44026" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-6953-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



Budd’s partner in crime &#8211; on and off the stage &#8211; was the show’s choreographer Thomas Andrew Smith. The pair step into the fairy-winged roles of Blossom and Bud &#8211; aka the Spirits of the Rose &#8211; a pair of rascally fairies whose job it is to help the Beast find love. They’re cute, funny and wise &#8211; and they’re clearly having a lot of fun. It’s enjoyable to watch.



Back again this year to don the dress is Matt Ian Kelly &#8211; Mrs Trott in last year’s performance of Jack and the Beanstalk &#8211; who plays Dame Stella Artois, the Beast’s housekeeper. Charming, funny and quick-witted, Kelly a delight to watch and keeps things rollicking along at a steady pace, while slipping in the occasional naughty adult joke.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298.jpg" alt="Camberley Theatre panto, Ian Matt Kelluy and Victoria Barklamb " class="wp-image-44018" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7298-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



He was joined in the slapstick by Victoria Barklamb, with more than 20 years in the industry as a family entertainer (hello Chessington, Legoland and Disney) and a panto newbie. She glides on to the stage on rollerskates, and then promptly rolls out the gags thick and fast. Is it wrong that her “Oui Oui” joke particularly ticked me? (Perhaps you had to be there?)



For the purposes of the storyline, she’s Bobbie, the little sister of Belle, a circus-performer who’s just returned home. Whether the role was written especially for this plate-spinning and juggling wonder act, I’m unsure &#8211; but for a panto first-timer, she was a natural, engaging easily and winningly with the audience.



The role of the beautiful Belle is played by Francesca McKean, and so convincing was her partnership with The Beast (Henry Shine) that my eight-year-old buddy Ruby was convinced they were a couple in real life. “They must really like each other,” she declared. The pair belt out several touching duets that are genuinely breathtaking &#8211; Shine, in particular has a hefty set of pipes on him and the kind of deep and sultry voice that makes the hairs on your neck stand up.  He was perfectly cast as The Beast, bringing a sensitivity and complexity to the role. And if ever a panto star was destined for a leading West End role, it has to be him (are you listening Andrew Lloyd Webber?) 



But one of my favourites &#8211; and Ruby’s too &#8211; has to be Beau (played by Cal Plant &#8211; another panto newcomer) who fancies himself as the town’s hottie &#8211; a wanna-be suitor for Belle all leather-clad, over confident and arrogant but also kinda foxy.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44016" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7140-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



It wouldn’t be Beauty and the Beast if Belle didn’t fall for the hairy one, but *slight spoiler alert* Beau wins hearts too &#8211; although I shall remain tight-lipped on the eventual winner of his affections.



This is a fun and feel-good panto &#8211; with all the traditional elements including the Twelve days of Christmas annual showstopper bit that involves water pistols, toilet rolls and a bra that is ‘made to fit three’. (Yeah, you have to be there.) There’s a smattering of adult humour, and plenty of high-voltage energy &#8211; in particular from the talented ensemble who sing and dance up a storm. They open the show with a great version of Abba’s &#8216;Voulez-Vous&#8217; &#8211; which sets the tone for an energetic and fun show &#8211; and close with &#8216;You Can’t Stop The Beat’.



The costumes were fantastic, the sets were gorgeous and the dancing impressive &#8211; a must-see for Camberley families this festive season. And the message that beauty is more than skin deep couldn’t be more apt in the social media obsessed world that many of us inhabit.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807.jpg" alt="Beauty and the Beast panto at Camberley Theatre" class="wp-image-44021" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/surrey/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/Beauty-and-the-Beast-7807-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



Good for: Families will love this &#8211; there are lots of happy vibes going on and you can’t help but get involved.



Not for: Kids under three will probably struggle to sit through the 2+ hour length. 



<a href="https://www.camberleytheatre.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Beauty and the Beast</a> is at Camberley Theatre until Sat 31 Dec. Book tickets <a href="https://www.camberleytheatre.co.uk/events/beauty-and-beast#" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.

Review: Beauty and the Beast at Camberley Theatre

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