Amplified roars are resounding around Glossop's Partington Theatre and it's nothing to do with the World Cup.

The noises are not from England’s Three Lions or the Welsh dragon.

They come from the mouth of Matthew Tattum who is playing the Beast in the Partington Players’ production of Peter Denyer’s Beauty and the Beast.

Technical help from the sound department and brilliant acting have turned Matthew into the scariest sight ever seen and heard on the Henry Street stage.

But in pantomime everything always ends happily and the menacing Matt is really a nice guy.

He turns back into a prince after a witch’s spell is broken and marries ‘Beauty’ played by Lucy Barnett.

It’s the perfect match. Lucy has one of the best singing voices I have heard in a Partington performance in years and their contribution is one of the main ingredients to the magic.

I went to last Thursday’s dress rehearsal, the night before the start of the pantomime’s run which ends on Saturday 3 December.

Pantomimes in particular need audiences to react with, but even with less than 20 people in the stalls, the cast served up a real Christmas cracker - while the run is a sell-out.

After a Partington panto break of several years, Chris Sturmey is back as director, as well as playing his favourite role of ‘dame’, this time French castle housekeeper, Dora.

It was a typical Chris performance, all action, hustle and bustle, never short of a joke or funny quip and with equally impressive side-kick Loopy Louis (Billy Dwyer), they are a formidable and funny pair.

We had the traditional panto kitchen scene where cake making turns into a battle with eggs and flour and then when the audience is invited to sing the words on a song board that’s hauled on stage.

The cast, without exception, were polished and professional and everyone played their part in the success of a show packed with comedy, singing and lavish dance routines.

I particularly liked Matthew Cox’s portrayal of Beauty’s father, the doddery Dr Panache.

This is one of the best Partington pantomimes I can remember.

The dance routines are colourful, classy and spectacular, the songs, both up-beat and ballads perfectly delivered and tailor-made for each aspect of the panto.

Having an instrumentalist accompanying at the side of the stage somehow adds to the quality.

There seems to have been no expense spared on the costumes, all colourful, vibrant, fresh and looking brand new.

Believe me, Beauty and the Beast, Partington Players’ style, is the ideal way to start the run-up to Christmas.

Cast:

Narrator, Ann Sturmey; Countess de Colombe, Majella Graham; Beauty, Lucy Barnett; Fat French Franc, Kyle Gatley; Danton, Greg Cooper; Loopy Louis, Billy Dwyer;  Beast, Matthew Tattum; Dora, Chris Sturmey; Dr Panache, Matthew Cox.

Luminieres: Evelyn Lees, Hope Mellor, Natasha Woodham, Jude Sharpe, Annabelle Neill, Izzy Woodham, Evora Hazelhurst.

Chips: Aleyna Whettam, Daisy Davison, Harvey Church-Stambridge,  Alice Owen, Bella Colgan, Leo Gatley, Wilfred Baddeley.

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