But the society certainly did not rest on its laurels and to take on the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast was another major challenge.

DCU vice chairman Alex, who played the role of Gaston, admitted that following the popularity and critical success of Les Mis it had set itself up for a 'massive fall'.

However, it once again showed just what talent there is in the Island with a truly magical show packed full of outstanding performances and wonderful costumes and colourful scenery.

'On the last night we received a standing ovation, it really was heartwarming and a relief in my mind we managed to pull off a show to that scale once again,' Alex said.

Just under 6,000 people saw the show at the Gaiety which finished its week-long run on February 6.

And while there was magic on the stage, there was magic off it too.
For Rachel Wild, who played the leading female character Belle, it was a dream role.

'She did such a fantastic job at the role, we had so many kids coming backstage and they were just in awe of her and her dress and the fairytale princess thing. It was fantastic to see. When you see kids' faces light up like that you realise you have done a fantastic job.'

Matt James played the role of the Prince/the Beast — although due to his impressive costume you would be hard pushed to have recognised him.
Initially the Beast is a harsh character who captures Belle's father, but we begin to see his softer side as the plot unravels and as he becomes attached to Belle.

'I think he (Matt] lost about half a stone during the week wearing that suit.

'He has been doing this for years, he knows every inch of that stage. Once again he did a fantastic job.'

Alex's character had some varied scenes — from the brilliantly choreographed routine in the tavern with the ensemble to the dramatic fight scene with the Beast.

There were numerous other outstanding performances too.

Alex was quick to thank everyone involved in the production, including those dealing with props, make-up and all the crew.

'Without all these people backstage these shows couldn't be put on,' he said.

Also, he had high praise for the musicians involved.

'The orchestra was fantastic as well. I am sure Steve Spielberg would hire them and stick them on any of his movie soundtracks.

'A lot of the people involved do this for nothing and purely for the love of theatre and what a fantastic theatre to be able to perform in as well. We are not a charity but we rely on the ticket sales to produce these shows each year and the public have been so good to us for many years.'

Alex also thanked sponsors Dougherty Quinn and associate sponsors RBS Coutts.

He revealed what the audience can expect next year.

'We are reverting back to the traditional stable of productions and are going to be performing My Fair Lady.'

They will have a new director, Tony Finnegan, from Ireland, for the show.

'This (Beauty and the Beast] was Jeremy Tustin's final production with us. We would like to thank Jeremy for all his hard work and dedication that he has given to us. We feel we have certainly moved forward as a society and a lot of that is down to him.'

Beauty and the Beast was Jeremy's fourth show with DCU. He was also at the helm for Les Miserables, Annie and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The audience will no doubt expect another quality production next year as DCU's last two shows in particular have really highlighted the exceptional talent in the Isle of Man.

'Although we are amateurs I think we like to think of ourselves as professional amateurs, we really do strive to produce these shows to a high quality for the Manx public,' Alex said.

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