South Coast Choral and Arts Society. Victor Harbor Town Hall. 14 Oct 2022
The old Victor Harbor Town Hall is not the greatest venue in the world. Its sightlines can be miserable and the council has decreed its lovely balcony as out of bounds. But, such limitations have never held back the regional thespians from mounting huge and wildly ambitious productions.
And here they are again: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on an ambitiously-tiered stage, a large orchestra, and even a cast promenade through the auditorium.
A very large cast it is, too. SCCAS has a mass of enthusiastic support from local theatre aspirants as well as local businesses. It is a fine example of good community spirit, along with the region’s rival producer of musicals, the not-for-profit group, Zest. They both do the Fleurieu and its citizenry proud.
Beauty and the Beast, with its Alan Menken music and Howard Ashman and Tim Rice lyrics, is a very tricky show to mount since it is based not only on a fairy tale but on the Disney cartoon version of a fairy tale. Hence, it is an offbeat spectacular with ridiculous fancy costumes and some very difficult singing. In her first voyage into stage directing, Eloise Morriss has gathered a huge team of costumiers who have done the show proud with the teapot costume of Mrs Potts and the gorgeous teacup of her boy, Chip. These are characters cursed to live as objects in the tale, just as the Prince has become a beast. There’s the living chest of drawers and, quite deliciously here, the clock and the French lamplight, known as Lumiere. There’s even call for the whole ensemble to dance as giant cutlery.
Of course, it’s a love story with villains and heroes and, in the end of the day, true love allows The Beast to be revealed as the handsome prince. In this case, among all the brilliant, detailed costumes and complex and effective set, it feels odd that The Beast, sung with gravelly emotion by Chris Stevenson, turns out to be just as hirsute as his character and the big reveal is to a long wig and a very big beard which now is neatly braided at the bottom.
The ensemble work is very strong albeit some of the soloists are uneven. The sound eventually gets the balance just right. Katie Marshall’s orchestra is very on-cue with the singers although its big entre-acte is a tough test.
While the lighting tends to dull, the talents shine through. Notable are Flynne Turley in the character part of Lumiere, along with Elise Hall as his offsider Cogsworth. Jemma Sims is a radiant Belle and she has the acting chops with immense promise in the singing. John Grear, Hope Meffle, and Sean Kelley are very good in support with Lukas Barker standing out as Kefou and also beautifully-spoken young Felix Stevenson. Molly Sutherland and Tia Stevenson get a big tick. And, well, the shrill squealing of the Silly Girls Megan Hawke, Leila Hollingworth, and Payton Stevenson makes one wish one had brought the earplugs.
The ensemble works with focus and enthusiasm and one shares in the joy they clearly feel in being onstage.
This might not be SCCAS’s greatest production, but it is great in its proportions, its good spirit, its fantastic costumes, and absolute fearlessness.
Samela Harris
When: 14 to 29 Oct
Where: Victor Harbor Town Hall
Bookings: sccas.org
