Lead us

In a world of war; we are looking for our saviour

Someone to guide us to a new promised land

Too much hatred towards people who are different

Too different for them to understand

In a world of war; we are looking for our saviour

Someone to challenge the established few

A new way of thinking; a new way talking

Someone who is truthful to what they will do

Chorus

Lead us away and save our souls

Lead us away from this hatred inside

Lead us to peace and a time to reflect

Lead us to our paradise

Lead us glory and a new dawn ahead

Lead us to share and believe in each other

Lead us to our community and spread the joy

Lead us to a new kind of love

In a world getting smaller; we’ve lost our community

A sense of belonging got lost along the way

Kindness and generosity no longer the norm

Greed and power has sadly become the way

In a world getting smaller; we’ve lost our community

Someone needs to restore our faith in humanity

Love thy neighbour is no longer the mantra

Please restore the world’s sanity

Bridge

Throughout these dark times there has t be a light

A leader to make the dark world once again beam bright

Beauty And The Beast

We’ve ran out of time

Nothing left to see

Started out as mates

Then went on some dates

True love completely

Changed after one night

Simply had a feast

I had curly fries (French Frank)

I went super size (Potty Pots)

Beauty and the Beast

Never be the same

I still need a bride (Gaston)

Opened a new door

This I never saw

Standing side by side

Story should be told

Love that conquers all

Change to make it right

Romance is in sight

Feeling ten foot tall

We’ve made some new friends

Friendship at the least

We’ll all say goodbye

Love you can’t untie

Beauty and the Beast

We’ll all say goodbye

Love you can’t untie

Beauty and the Beast

St Helens Theatre Royal – Beauty and the Beast

It’s Easter time again and that can only mean one thing…Panto!  St Helens has delivered another hit with their interpretation of Beauty and the Beast.  The tale as old as time has been reworked and given the St Helens touch.  Audience of all ages gathered to be entertained once again, by a now regular cast and a couple of new faces. 

One of the new faces to appear was the dazzling Amy Thompson.  Amy plays Belle with a charm and beauty Walt Disney himself would adore.  I didn’t know much about Amy before the panto as I’m not familiar with her show (Milkshake).  I would, however, gladly tune in to see her and that ‘Disney’ smile.  Another new face taking the stage was ‘Big Brothers’ Nikki Grahame.  Nikki plays the Fairy in this production and delivers her lines with enthusiasm.  She is first on stage, which is always difficult on your own, and needed to get the crowd warmed up better before the first song.

Now with any pantomime you need to have a comedy duo, enter Simon Foster and Liam Mellor.  Liam and Simon have worked together on many occasions and have natural comic timing and a look of mischievousness that tells the audience to watch as something might happen that shouldn’t!  The best part, for me, is when the two of them adlib a couple of lines and try and catch each other out.  They have a great connection with the audience and Liam, in particular, loves to pick on the adults in the audience – The frog scene a perfect example!

The ‘Baddies’ of this panto were Phillip McGuinness and his mum Hannah Potts.  Phillip played Gaston perfectly.  The difficulty in this role is to over act enough for the character but not to over act too much so the audience don’t respond.  Phillip had the balance just right.  His physicality is a massive plus for this role and he never comes out of character once.  He has good chemistry on stage with Hannah.  She has the traditional ‘baddy’ laugh down to a tee and performs a couple of songs with ease.

Now the Beast / Prince – Richard Hazlewood – plays both roles very well but he is at his best as the Beast.  His voice is perfect for the Beast and the use of some special effects makes it even better.  There are some great directional pieces when he changes from the Prince to the Best and back again. 

Special mention to two groups of people that are often neglected but without them the panto doesn’t happen.  First, the set design and costumes were first class.  The attention to detail in the set design with the candle lights slightly flickering shows the amount of work that is generated in this production.  The second group – The Dancers.  These young dancers were outstanding throughout the show and a credit to their choreographer.  They had the energy the show needed and some of the lifts were sublime. 

The pantomime wasn’t perfect and no pantomime should be.  No pantomime should be polished.  There should always be room for some ‘mistakes’ and ‘adlibs’ as this keeps the cast fresh and the audience feel like they are the first to see or hear that part.  The first half of the show was a little short for me (Around 45 minutes) but the second half lasted about an hour.  The dialogue is as corny as it should be with jokes you know are coming and you laugh anyway because of the delivery.   Slapstick is massive in any pantomime and again Beauty and the Beast delivers.  Songs were well chosen and the cast sang them well, particularly Amy.

I presume copyright reasons were the reason the famous ‘Tale as old as time’ song couldn’t be used but maybe comedy lyrics could have been written for the double act ‘French Frank and Potty Polly’

All in all a great day out with my niece saying that it was the best panto she had seen and wanted to go again, so if you want to escape in to a land of make believe to watch a classic tale, then St Helens Theatre Royal is the place to be!

Our Park

A beautiful day and not a cloud in the sky

People greeting each other by simply saying hi

A walk around the park and a breathe of fresh air

Something we all need to cherish, we all need to care

A family sitting together reading a children’s book

Dad failing to light the BBQ trying to tell them he can cook

The dog running around trying to catch a thrown stick

Mum watching everything she never misses a trick

A courting couple lie together underneath a tree

Whispering sweet nothings and him touching her knee

Their lips touch, a gentle kiss and their fondness sealed

It won’t be long now until their love for each other is revealed

A single queue forming at the local ice cream parlour

Lots of options to choose from but you have a favourite flavour

One scoop or two is always a difficult decision to make

You eat the two scoops as you walk around the boating lake

People exercising alone while others workout together

The park brings everyone out in this glorious weather

So whether you are young, old or somewhere in between

Get out in the park; you’ll know why once you’ve been