Beauty and the Beast: About our Cast

Beauty and the Beast: About our Cast

We are delighted to present Beauty and the Beast at the Marina Theatre from December 13th until January 1st.

Now while we all know the famous story of the French girl whose selfless love for the Beast transforms him back into a handsome prince, you may not be familiar with who is going to be starring in our spine-tingling, foot-tapping, hand-clapping Christmas cracker of a show! Well we have the answer!

Award-winning theatre producers Paul Holman Associates are once again teaming up with The Marina Theatre and sponsoring this year’s seasonal spectacular are cottages.com. And here is the lowdown on our fantastic pantomime cast!

gastonJeremy Edwards: Gaston

Jeremy has been on our Television screens for over 20 years. His first big break was as Kurt in Channel 4's new teenage soap Hollyoaks, before he moved to BBC 1 and the prime time drama Holby City. Jeremy has since become a staple on our TV diaries appearing on Comic Relief, Celebrity Big Brother, Mastermind, Dancing On Ice, Celebrity Masterchef, Shooting Stars, Light Lunch, Loose Women, 8 out of 10 Cats and many, many more. He also regularly presents on Angela and Friends, The Wright Stuff, Cooking The Books.

Terry Gleed: Freddy

Terry graduated from the Guildford School of Acting, having completed three years’ training in musical theatre.

He subsequently joined Lulu and Eric Sykes on the UK tour of the Broadway musical version of Peter Pan, playing the role of Slightly, one of the Lost Boys. He then spent six months as an Apostle on the European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Terry has spent many happy years touring the globe as a production vocalist on many of the P&O cruise ships.

Helen Jeckells: Witch

Helen has enjoyed a varied career in the performing arts: from dance to drama, playing the piano and violin, teaching ballet, and choreographing shows.

Some of her performance credits include The Boy at the Edge of the Room (UK tour), Bloom (UK tour), Stepping Out (Vera-Union Theatre), Miss Skillon in See How They Run (UK tour), Essence of Ireland (UK tour), Magical Rhythms of Ireland II (European tour), Spirit of the Dance (Reno, Nevada), Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, Ruth in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (national tour).

Helen, who has a long association with PHA, has appeared in and choreographed over 20 pantomimes across the country.

Fenton Gray: Madame Cherie Trifle

Some of Fenton’s theatre credits include Gus the Theatre Cat in Cats, Pimp/Claquesous in Les Misérables and Blood Brothers (original cast, Albery). He was Julian Clary’s director for three years, directing productions of Cinderella (Brighton, Richmond, Woking) and his one-man shows Amore (West Beth Theatre, New York) and Natural Born Mincer (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and UK tour). Fenton has previously directed for Paul Holman Associates – Cinderella (Derby) & Snow White (Weston Super Mare).

Matthew Wellman: Prince Francois and Beast

Matthew trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His credits whilst training include Angel in Rent and Laurie in Little Women (Ivy Arts Centre). His theatre credits include Wilf/Understudy in Classic Ghost Stories (UK Tour), Steven Kodaly in She Loves Me (Landor Theatre), and Charlie West in The Despondent Divorcee (Edinburgh Festival). His TV credits include Having a Ball (BBC 2).

Rosie Hale: Belle

Rosie originates from Warwickshire and trained at the London School of Musical Theatre. Since graduating, she has appeared on live shows of Britain’s Got Talent 2015 with her Disney inspired group, ‘Misstasia’. Most recently, Rosie has returned from Paris, where she landed the lead role of Enchantella in the new musical Forest of Enchantment at the Chaparral Theatre, Disneyland.