Beauty and the Beast - What a Performance!
The 7th December was an important date for my daughter, Hannah aged 6, and I; we were invited to the Newcastle College Performance Academy Christmas Panto ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and we had a big night planned! After school we caught the train from Northallerton and arrived at Newcastle Central Station just in time for a quick stop at Starbucks. Hannah chose a hot vanilla milk and we settled into our seats to enjoy our drinks and watch the people running, and sometimes failing, to catch their trains! 3 minutes later Hannah accidentally spilt the entire contents of her cup all over the table, the floor and me…Oh no she didn’t? Oh yes she did! So we decided it was time to head over to the college…
Once at the Performance Academy we were relieved to see the welcome sight of a busy, but still smiling, Audreyann Myers, Course Leader for the Access to HE Performing Arts Programme and Director of the evening’s production. She pointed us in the direction of our seats; the lights went down and the show unfolded.
It was performed by the Access to HE Performing Arts students and the music was provided by students on the Access to HE Music programme. The show was everything a panto should be and a bit more thrown in for luck; even a song from ‘The Little Mermaid’ which Hannah identified as being the ‘odd one out’! There were some very ugly sisters, scary pirates, frenetic cats, fluorescent dancing sea creatures and of course Beauty and her Beast. The musicians and vocalists provided the perfect accompaniment and it was all performed brilliantly and with gusto. And of course sweets were thrown into the audience at the end; just to guarantee that Hannah was extra hyperactive while waiting on the platform for the train home!
It was a fantastic evening and one well worth the journey, and the spilt milk! The most impressive fact is that the students only started the programme in September and for some this was their first experience of performing on stage; a great achievement! Congratulations to all the students and staff and very best of luck for the rest of the programme.
Hannah said, ‘I really loved the pantomime and my favourite bits were the dancing fish, getting sweets and finding out that one of the kittens is called Hannah in real life’.
Jennie Lawson
Access to HE Manager
OCN North East Region
