Beauty And The Beast Pantomime At The Tyne Theatre Newcastle Review

 AD / Gifted Tickets 

Enchanted Entertainment are back at The Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle with this years panto Beauty and the Beast. Geordie panto favourites Charlie Richmond and Lewis Denny return alongside Union J's, JJ Hamblett and Sugarbabe Amelle Berrabah, to bring you a classic Geordie panto with a French twist this Christmas. 

Set in the village of Chateau Du Toilette you are whisked away on a tale as old as time with plenty of laughs, mishaps and panto silliness along the way. Charlie Richmond plays Daveed Granola and is his usual silly self, getting the audience laughing and on side from the get go. Lewis Denny stars as Dame Brenda Brexit and dazzles in some amazing costumes this year (loved the McDonald's one), the on stage chemistry between Lewis and Charlie is evident to see and it just makes the show so enjoyable as you can tell they are just having fun throughout the show. 

Fairy Sugarbabe, Amelle Berrabah makes a wonderful fairy and sings some great songs - including some Sugarbabes classics like Push the button. Union J's JJ Hamblett plays the beast alongside local lass Beth Clarke as Belle - loved their rendition of rewrite the stars, JJ was an amazing singer. And Micky Cocohrane plays a convincing baddy as Anton du Berk raising lots of boos from the audience whenever he is on stage. 

The show bursts in to life with a can-can medley, brilliant costumes and wonderful dancers. It is fast paced, packed full of jokes and had plenty of gags that went straight over the kids heads. Yes the 3D glasses are back this year and was a highlight for my children, expect lots of screams of joy and terror from the young audience members. There was water guns, audience participation and lots of fun songs to make you sing and dance along too. 

I visited with my three children aged 8,9 and 20 (my 20 year old only came to see JJ, she has been a Union J fan since the X-Factor days and already has tickets for their upcoming tour next May at the City Hall). All three children enjoyed the show they laughed, they screamed, they booed and they cheered. There was lots of local reference and sayings throughout the show that went down well with the audience too. 

 

The Tyne Theatre and Opera House

I always think a visit to the Tyne Theatre is rather magical as it is such a old, traditional theatre  steeped in history. It is located right in Newcastle city centre and is easy to get to via public transport or you can park at one of the city centre car parks. All of the staff we met from box office, to ushers to bar staff were lovely and welcoming. We also love that there is a live band on during the panto show. Prices were reasonable with light up toys priced around £6 and I paid £5.10 for a big bag of popcorn and a bag of Haribo's which wasn't too bad. 

However we were in the upper circle this year and I hate to complain but if you can pay that little bit extra for better seats do. I don't know if we were just unlucky with our seats but we had no leg room at all - not even the kids and it was really uncomfortable. 

The show runs for two hours with a 30 minute interval, the show we attended did overrun by half an hour but it was opening night so was to be expected. 

What We Thought

We all enjoyed Beauty and the Beast at the Tyne Theatre, the 3D scenes and water fights were highlights for the kids just like last year when we watched Sleeping Beauty. My eldest loved that JJ sang a Union J song and I loved the costumes and banter between the cast, it just felt very natural and they worked well together. It was fun, it was cheerful and it was a great family panto that appeals to all ages and will get you into the Christmas spirit. 

Beauty and the Beast is running from now until the 8th of January 2023, tickets start at £15 per person you can book in person at the box office or online at  www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/