Okehampton College students wowed crowds last week week with their fantastic production of Beauty and the Beast JR, writes Amy Hetherington.

The production, which is the first one since the outbreak of the covid pandemic, was put together by the students in record time with only ten weeks rehearsal time as opposed to the usual 18 weeks.

As is tradition, students were involved in all aspects of the production including lighting, sound and backstage work while the actors themselves performed brilliantly with perfect comic timing and superb singing.

There was even a few surprises as the show included scenes and songs not included in the original Disney animation and newer live-action film.

Smiles and delight shone through on both cast and crew members receiving cheers and whistles from the audience as they took their bows at the end of the performance.

Beauty and the Beast JR is based on the original Broadway production and Disney’s adaption of the story included some of the most popular songs along with some newer musical numbers.

The plot follows Belle, a young woman who finds herself the prisoner of a hideous beast who is really a prince under a spell and tells the story of how the two slowly fall in love ultimately breaking the prince’s curse.

The Lumiere Hazel Stube did all of the performances to fill in for our other Lumiere Otis who was too ill to perform.

Belle with red hair was played by Alice Graham and Belle with dark hair Lena Raphael.

Hope Hooper and Esme Luckhurst played the role of the beast with tenderness and command in equal parts, making the audience jump from their seats with fear.

The prince was played by Rosie Parker & Jo Bales, enchantress by Alesha Jutson and Millie Monkman and Gaston by Dylan Isidro-Lucking.

See tomorrow's Times for more photos of the production.