Beauty And The Beast The Rock ‘N’ Roll Panto At City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds Review

Reviewed by Claire Giles

After a years break because of the covid pandemic the highly anticipated Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto is back at City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto has become a yearly event tradition at City Varieties since it was first introduced in 2011 and Beauty and the Beast is the latest story to be given the Rock ‘n’ Roll treatment. I haven’t attended a Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto before so was intrigued by the whole concept and excited to see what it was all about.

City Varieties Music Hall is based in Leeds City Centre so is easy to get to by car or public transport. There is plenty of payable parking nearby. It is a beautifully restored 19th century music hall. It is smaller than more modern theatres but this just adds to its charm. The seats were incredibly comfy and there was plenty of leg room. It has accessible access by lift and wheelchair spaces. Though covid restrictions have been relaxed it is requested that audience members wear a mask whilst in the theatre including whilst seated except if eating or drinking.

Most people know the story of Beauty and the Beast and though some of the elements of the original story remain some are changed to fit in with the panto and rock ‘n’ roll theme. The story revolves around the traditional characters of the Prince who is cursed to become the Beast and Beauty his true love who can break the spell. Unlike the traditional story though Beauty comes from a rich family living with her father and two older sisters Vanity and Luxury who live up to their names. Vanity and Luxury plan to marry rich toffs whilst Beauty intends to never marry and remain at home to look after her father. This all comes crashing down when their fortune is lost and the family are forced to move to the only property they still own which much to their dismay is a farm in Yorkshire! The farm is run by Bessie Bigbreaths, an amusing play on words every time it is spoken. This is where the panto element kicks in and Bessie the panto dame is introduced.

I have been to many pantomimes over the years with my three kids and I can honestly say Bessie is the best panto dame I have ever seen. Simon Nock as Bessie is sarcastic, witty, teasing and delivered some brilliant innuendos. She had the kids and adults laughing out loud though often for different reasons. She brought real fun and laughter to the show and evens adlibs off script at moments much to the amusement of the audience and cast alike. She constantly interacted with the audience and delivered a lot of ‘oh no he did’ ‘oh no he didn’t’ moments that you expect in a traditional panto. Bessie took a particular liking to D** in the front row (poor D**) (editor’s note – name edited) who inadvertently became a part of the show to everyone’s amusement. My kids particularly enjoyed the part where Bessie and her farmhand Desperate Dan got the audience to watch the chickens and shout out when they were ready to lay eggs. They were stunned when slowly and dramatically the giant egg appeared and was dropped from above for Desperate Dan to catch. Their favourite moment though was when Bessie and Primp and Preen, the Beasts servants, disinfected the audience with giant water guns. My kids thought this was hilarious especially as me and my husband got shot with the water quite a few times. From thereon the panto side and the Beauty and the Beast storyline merge together with often hilarious results such as when Bessie meets the Beast.

The most amazing thing about the whole show was that the actors don’t just act they also sing and play the instruments live on stage. Throughout the show the whole cast rotated between acting, singing and playing. They performed live songs from rock ‘n’ roll genre and chart toppers that fitted in cleverly with the storyline. The songs covered many eras so there was something for everyone young or old. They had the crowd foot tapping, clapping and singing along. Everyone was on their feet dancing along for the final musical number. The cast were all good singers but Grace Lancaster as Beauty singing You’ve Got a Friend, Conor Mellor as the Beast singing Sweet Child of Mine and James William-Pattison as Desperate Dan rendition of Somebody to Love were truly outstanding performances.

The choreographed dance and fight sequences where simple but fitting and amusing in most cases. The costumes were very good especially Bessie’s costumes which were very large and over the top as you would expect from a panto dame. Smoke effects, flashing lights and loud bangs all added to the performance.

The cast were truly a multi talented bunch of performers. It was non stop fun from beginning to end and kept my ten year old twins engrossed throughout which is quite the feat. I would recommend this to anyone regardless of age. My husband who is not a theatre lover admitted he loved it which is high praise indeed.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £14 – £30
Beauty and the Beast The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto is at City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds from Fri 26 November 2021 – Sun 9 January 2022
For more information or to book tickets visit leedsheritagetheatres.com