"Beauty & The Beast" by Spotlight Theatre Company.

Squire Performing Arts Centre.

Because I'm not around when Spotlight are performing this show over the next few days, I was invited along to be their guest at a dress rehearsal performance of the show, before opening night on Friday night.

You know the main story of Belle who is captured by The Beast who was really Prince Henri after he was not very nice to the Enchantress and it is through the love that develops between Belle and The Beast which breaks the spell. In the mean time though chaste Belle is being chased by the hunky and muscled Gustave. OK, got the story? Good, because you're going to love this show.

I've decided that I am not going to say just how marvellous every one is on stage, because I always do that, so instead I will just re iterate just how good this cast and creative team are.

Belle is played by Samantha Hedley, and let me re iterate what a beauty-ful voice she has, which is put to fantastic use in this soundtrack. This is quite a physical role and Sam literally at times, throws herself into it.

The Beast is played by Sam Barson, and when I found out about both Sams taking the leads, I automatically knew that this production was going to be a big hit, which it will be. Sam, for anyone who has never heard Sam sing before, will be blown away by the absolute power of his voice. He's also really scary in Beast mode!

Gaston is played by Oliver Smith. Wonderfully arrogant, as expected, and I had half expected one of those "ting" sound effects every time Oliver flashed his molars. Great fun role delivered with just the right dollop of smarm. Gaston is a bully who likes to think he can get any girl that he wants by flexing his muscles and flashing a smile, but he has met his match with Belle.

Patrick McChrystal plays Le Fou, Gaston's right hand man. Another role made for Patrick due to the comedy element. It's a fact that the translation of Le Fou is actually "the fool", but he's not as foolish as it makes out. He hero worships Gaston even though Gaston treats him quite horribly. A lovely physical knock about role for an actor who knows how to play knock about extremely well.

The gorgeous Laura Thurman plays Mrs Potts. One thing that I have noticed with all of the cast members is that the casting is a perfect match for the characters. Mrs Potts is a lovable, friendly, caring and maternal person; with that said, you can see why Laura was picked for this role.

Cogsworth, the fusty old clock, is played by the equally gorgeous Joe Butler. This is Joe at her very best, especially with her facial acting and comedy skills. There is not, however, anything fusty about Joe with this sparkling character.

Lumiere is played by David Page. This is one of my favourite characters in "Beauty & The Beast", probably because of Lumiere's stylish personality, so obviously you need a stylish actor to play such a character, and we got one in David. The outfit is brilliantly sparkly, and those heeled shoes are wonderfully high, making this candelabra look even taller. Only once do those shoes leave David's feet, and that is to bring out the tap shoes, which there's a brilliant and big tap scene to accompany "Be Our Guest".

Adam Collishaw  plays Maurice, Belle's Father and an inventor. It's because of Maurice that Belle ends up at the Beast's castle and is imprisoned. Maurice is set upon by a pack of pretty ferocious looking wolves and flees to the castle for cover. Adam brings out the eccentricity of the character perfectly.

Stephanie Beara plays Babette, Luminiere's French girlfriend, showing that Disney did include saucy characters in his films. Another perfect piece of casting!

Chip is played by Emily Holder, who is balanced on a tea trolley as Chip, the delicate China cup. Emily sounds so much younger as this character and really gets into the role, and with this brilliant costume at first glance looks every inch a tea cup. It's only when you look closer that you notice the clever positioning.

Laura Ellis plays Madame de la Grande Bouche. This costume is absolutely wonderful; it's so good that, with the wig and costume combination, Laura was completely unrecognisable, but what a lovely role that oozes class.

Les Filles La Ville are played by Charlotte Barrington, Megan Leahy & Emily-Hope Wilkins. This trio are great fun, always dreaming of being Gaston's girl. They are so enamoured with this Romeo that they even agree to keeping up "rendez vous's" with him, even after he has tinkled Belle's bells! Who said Disney was just for kids?

Monsieur D'Arque is played by Shantanu Bhumbra, who also is part of the ensemble. This character is the one that Gaston has employed to get  Maurice, Belle's Father, out of the picture by making the townsfolk think that he had gone a bit loopy by saying that a Beast occupied the castle.

The Young Prince is played by Abraham Collishaw, who opens the musical with a nice bit of physicality in the role, after being cursed by the Old Beggar Woman, played by Sophie Petruccio-Hall.

The voice of The Narrator is by Liam Petruccio-Hall, who we hear at the start of the show, giving us the background to how the Beast became who he was and what was needed to lift the curse. Straight away you know the history and you're ready for the action for the next couple of hours.

A lovely ensemble consisting of Hannah Haywood-Cupit, Sophie Benner, Bethany Wear, Abraham Collishaw, Lucy Horton, Tilly Wishart, Grace Collishaw, Luca Smith, Ella Swangreenwick , Claire Collishaw, Poppy Cook, Amy Flatman, Hemi Lewis, Preston Nash, Madelyn Monaghan, Daisy Donoghue, Scarlett Coleman-Smith, Sophie Benner, Harriet Hopkins, Eva Sheppard and Erin Hanby.     .

Directed by Amanda Hall and what Amanda doesn't know about creating a successful production and collating the perfect cast, really is not worth knowing. This is another successful production to be added to Amanda's list of hits.

Choreographed by Kristian Cunningham, and just by looking through the list of names working their magic in the Production department, guarantees that the best people are involved in this show. Kristian is renowned for getting the best out of his dancers, and that certainly shows in this show. I've always admired tap dancers because I know how difficult this particular area of dance is, but in this big tap number, they all make it look like they get out of bed tapping, it comes across as effortless and natural as that. 

Musical Director is Vicky Moroziuk and when you hear the quality of this cast's individual and combined voices, the control and the power, you'll be able to appreciate the workload that has been put in by Vicky as well as the actors. The vocals epitomise the Disney sound.

Costumes by Laura Leo at Leos Theatrical Costumiers, Spotlight Theatre and Kristian Thomas Company. I've touched on a few of the costumes but every one of them are worth mentions. There's no mistaking any of the characters when you see their costumes, and that's without them saying anything. 

Set Designer is Joanne Furner, and the Beast's castle is a complicated composite construction which breaks down into various other areas of the castle. The imposing entrance into the castle is up above the stage, where the rose that slowly loses its' petals is kept. From that entrance there's a three tier descending staircase to the stage. The top section also catches the light beautifully making a really colourful spectacle.

Sound design is by Rob Ketteridge. I was there on Friday during the tech run through, but if the sound is as good as the tech performance, then you're in for a very special listening experience.

Lighting design is by Oliver Read and operated by Abby Catto. This is a big job, all you need to do is take in the number of separate lights focusing on stage, but it's also a very colourful spectacle. A treat for the eyes and ears thanks to Rob, Oliver and Abby.

I said at the start that you will adore this production, and you will. It is great fun, has a brilliant cast and soundtrack, some wonderful characters and, most importantly, it has a lovely warm happy ending. And we all love a lovely warm happy end now don't we?

"Beauty & The Beast" will be at the Nottingham Squire Performing Arts Centre from Friday 30 August until Sunday 1 September.