Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Crewe Lyceum, 4th – 8th May 2010

Set in and around a quaint French village during the late 18th Century, “Beauty and the Beast” follows the fantastic adventures of Belle, a bright and beautiful young woman who finds escape from her ordinary life, and the advances of a boorish suitor, Gaston, by reading books. Meanwhile, off in a castle in the distance, a cruel young prince is cast under the spell of an enchantress who turns him into a tormented beast, and transforms his servants into animated household objects. In order to remove the curse, the Beast must discover a true love who will return his affection before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose. When Belle’s inventor father stumbles upon the Beast’s castle and is taken prisoner, Belle comes to the rescue and agrees to take her father’s place. With the help of the castle’s enchanted staff, she sees beneath the Beast’s exterior and discovers the heart and soul of a human prince.

In Curtain Call’s production, Belle was played by Dani Rayner and Ashley Bruce and the Beast was Joel Montague.

Hairspray

Grange Theatre, Hartford 15-23 January 2010

It’s 1962, the ‘50s are out and change is in the air.  Baltimore’s Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion – to dance.  She win a spot on the local TV dance programme, ‘The Corny Collins Show’ and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity.  But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the programme’s reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her ‘do’? Only in Hairspray!

Gen Smithson played the role of Tracy, with Dani Rayner as her best friend Penny, Greg Link as her mother Edna and David Brook as father Wilbur.  Hairspray was Joel Montague’s acclaimed debut directing a complete musical.

Who I’d Be

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Joel Montague performed a selection of numbers from musicals old and new, with music arranged by Malcolm-Forbes Peckham and his band. The concert included music from ‘Wicked’, ‘Spring Awakening’, ‘Les Misérables’, ‘Jersey Boys’ and many more. A donation was made from the proceeds to  The Grange’s partner school in The Gambia.