Both beautiful, and not beastly!
Two Westmeath schoolkids are getting ready to make their dream theatrical breakthroughs in Beauty and the Beast at the Helix on November 30 having survived the rigours of Ireland's only Panto Boot Camp.Lauren Doyle from Kinnegad and Samantha McKenna from Clonmellon succeeded in beating the competition to become panto performers.200 young hopefuls were put through their paces at Ireland and the UK's only panto boot camp in Dublin this summer.Their lessons included singing, dancing and the art of pantomime but only the top talent made it through for a place to perform in the Helix, home of the capital's best produced traditional pantomime."It's been amazing and really good fun. We've learned loads of new dances and songs," said Lauren (15) who attends Coláiste Chiaráin."The adult actors are all so funny and it's been such a laugh. We just can't wait to start performing in front of an audience," said SamanthaThe Westmeath girls are among the talented bunch of 32 children aged seven to twelve, and 12 teenagers, who have made the grade from panto boot camp.They will take to the stage for a six-week run in Beauty and the Beast at the Helix starting on November 30 and finishing on January 13."There is a limit to the amount of time children can perform on stage. So our child star crew of 44 is divided into teams of four and eight. All of them will be appearing in a selection of shows over the six week period," explained the panto's writer/producer Claire Tighe.Claire organised the panto boot camp at the Helix aimed at sourcing the kids with the best pantomime panache.This is Claire's fifth panto at the Dublin theatre following on from her hugely-successful productions of Aladdin, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk - seen by over 25,000 people per year.The Tighe clan, who run production company Theatreworx, are Ireland's own panto family.With over 20 years of pantomime experience, they have established a reputation for producing the very best of traditional festive season entertainment.Meanwhile Westmeath's own panto boot camp kids can't wait to get out there on stage and show off what they've learned."It's been the best experience ever. Yes we've put in a lot of hard work but it's been so much fun. We know the audience is just going to love it," said Lauren.The show stars Voice of Ireland finalist Kyle Kennedy as The Beast, and the lovely Lauren Nevin (The Tudors, Fair City) as the beautiful Belle.Eoin Cannon, who plays Gaston, has previously starred in Disney's worldwide musical production of Beauty and the Beast.Dame Lola is played by the inimitable John Lovett (The Tudors, Camelot and better known as Des Nolan from Fair City).Beauty and the Beast runs from November 30-January 13 at Dublin's Helix Theatre. Tickets: â¬16.50, family tickets â¬69. For more info see www.helix.ie or call 01 7007000