Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a scoop (From Echo)

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a scoop

8:00am Thursday 26th August 2010 in

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A TALKING candelabra, singing wardrobe and an unlikely romance...it could only be Beauty and the Beast.

Disney’s classic fairytale makes its Essex stage debut at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon, tonight.

Presented by Westcliff amateur dramatics group Players Theatre Company, the musical will run until Sunday.

“This is a real scoop for the players and a real treat for local theatre-goers,” says the company’s David Breen.

“Not only are we presenting the premiere of this show, we are also one of the first companies to be using a new stage set, based on the touring one, so we can promise a really great production.”

The musical, which has run on Broadway and the West End, is based on Disney’s 1991 film, the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

It tells the story of a young woman named Belle, who falls for a prince who has been transformed into an ugly beast.

David says: “The show will always appeal to the child in us, but its appeal spreads more broadly to fans of musical theatre. It has been great to rehearse and we are really looking forward to performing it.”

Players Theatre Company formed a year and a half ago from the ashes of the New Empire Players, who were based at Southend’s New Empire Theatre, before it closed.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Towngate Theatre, St Martin’s Square, Basildon.

£7-£14.

Various times.

Until Sunday.

Phone 01268 465465