Sometimes you go and see a show that puts you in a state of wide eyed wonder from start to finish and Beauty and the Beast is one of the shows.
The stage version of the classic animated film is Disney magic personified with superb staging, absolutely dazzling costumes and song and dance numbers that will leave you needing to pick your jaw off the floor as they just get bigger and bigger and bigger.
If you're looking to kick start your 2022 and banish those lingering January blues, tickets to Beauty and the Beast should be available on prescription as it's a production that could turn the most dour of frowns upside down.
For press night at the Sunderland Empire on Wednesday, the Beauty and the Beast cast was led by understudy Belle, Grace Swaby and, my word, did she rise to the challenge.
With a more mature take on the character that has had children adoring replica ballgowns for over 30 years now, Grace was less damsel in distress and more dynamic heroine as Belle made the brave choice to swap places with her father Maurice and be at the hands of the Beast in his cursed castle.
From the minute she opened her mouth for the opening bars of Belle to the soaring high note of her finest moment, A Change in Me, Grace gave as much grit as she did warmth and had real chemistry with her unlikely love interest.
As the Beast, Alyn Hawke put in a tour de force star turn.
He got right to the heart of the turmoil faced by his on stage alias, while also peeling away the layers to reveal a more vulnerable and softer side.
While a song not in the cartoon version of Beauty and the Beast, act one closer If I Can't Love Her is a more than welcome addition to the stage version's repertoire and gave Alyn the chance to deliver a masterful, extremely powerful and goosebump inducing performance, leaving the audience to give rapturous applause as the curtain came down for the interval.
If I Can't Love Her followed hot of the heels of stand out spectacle Be Our Guest, a show within a show which I could have quite easily have dedicated a full review to.
From the minute stellar scene stealer Gavin Lee, as Lumiere, invites Belle to pull up a chair for dinner, the number just grew and grew with Beauty and the Beast's triple threat of an ensemble leaving nothing in the wings as they danced their socks off and had more costume changes than a MTV awards host.
The kitchen sink of everything Disney is thrown at Be Our Guest, with the has to be seen to be believed staging coming into its own as the audience are transported to a cabaret that would be more than worthy of of the Moulin Rouge.
By the time streamers dropped from the ceiling onto the crowd below, loud whoops were already filling the room, bathing the cast in the wild cheers they thoroughly earned and deserved.
The Beauty and the Beast cast is full of total stars in roles they were born to play.
Former X Factor winner is the PERFECT Mrs Potts. With the unassuming charm and likeability that made the country fall in love with her in 2013 and the fantastic vocals that won her the crown that year, Sam is also a great actress and lights up every scene she is in.
Another understudy, Thomas Lee-Kidd, stepped into the role of Cogsworth with the stiff upper lip the role demands, with the scenes he shared with Sam, the sublime Gavin and fellow co-stars Samantha Bingley and Emma Caffrey, all both attention grabbing and beautifully heartwarming.
Everything from the characterisation to the nuances in movement given by all of the actors as they take on the guises of talking inanimate objects is spot on and a real masterclass in musical theatre at its best.
While he's the villain of the piece, it's hard not to raise a smile and a not so subtle swoon in the direction of Tom Senior as Gaston, with him leading his titular song with an abundance of the necessary pompous and chest fully puffed out arrogance.
A third understudy, Liam Buckland as Le Fou, was the perfect comic foil to his overly confident partner in crime.
Even a slight technical hitch, which saw the proceedings halted for a short time right at the end of the show, couldn't put a downer on what for me, was the best thing I've ever seen at the Empire.
The songs that earned the animated version instant classic status are taken up a notch when brought onto the stage, the set and special effects are a beast all of their own and the hard working and highly talented cast deserve all the plaudits that will surely continue to come their way.
It might be the self proclaimed tale as old as time, but Beauty and the Beast is THE show you need to start 2022 with.
*Beauty and the Beast is on at Sunderland Empire until Saturday, February 19.
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