Vidar Hjarding MBE - Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, Audio Described

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjarding MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next in his regular Connect Radio audio described theatre reviews.

This week Vidar was reviewing a tale as old as time with the audio described performance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre on Sunday 20 March 2022 with audio Description by professional Describers Jonathan Nash and Jenny Cosgrove-Stuart.

28 years after its Broadway debut, members of the original creative team have reunited on this new touring production that features all of the spellbinding songs of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice including Belle, Gaston, Be Our Guest and, of course, Beauty and the Beast.

The story of Beauty and the Beast follows a young prince who falls under a curse by an Enchantress, as punishment for his selfishness and cruelty. Now a hideous beast, the prince must learn to love and earn their love in return, before the last petal of an Enchanted Rose falls. Should he fail, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

Vidar began by saying to Toby that if anyone likes a happy ever after story Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is definitely the one. Also stating that this musical stage production certainly had a sparkly, very happy and very joyous ending which will have you going home feeling good inside after spending a couple of enjoyable hours in the theatre.

Vidar and Toby then discussed how Disney have very successfully taken their films such as The Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast from the movie screen to the theatre stage and how the stage production can at times give you a better or maybe different experience of the story of the film version of the show.

Then Vidar expressed how much the live description by Jonathan and Jenny really matched the style and nature of the show which is one of the true skills of an audio describer.

Vidar ended by saying that he did leave the theatre humming some of the tunes from the show which is always a good mark of a good musical for him!

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast continues on tour around the country with more audio described performances and full details can be found by visiting the productions website -

https://www.beautyandthebeastmusical.co.uk/access


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