THE Victoria Hall at Grange had music, romance and fun in 1999 as the pantomime version of classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast took to the stage.

The Mail, on Saturday, December 4 in 1999, noted: "Kathryn Irving, gracious as Belle, and Martin Gregory, wonderful as the Beast, really make the love story work.

"Lucy Dell is deliciously wicked as Camille and Catherine Norman is prettily peevish as Justine, while Alex Eccles and Gary Upton are delightfully foppish marquises.

"Lucy Quarmby adds to the fun by playing the village idiot then diving into the pit to play the piano for the songs."

Others to feature in the story of an arrogant prince cursed to live as a beast until he finds true love were Charlie Russell, Steven Robson, Lauren Hale and Joshua Robinson.

The classic story was brought to a new generation of fans in 2017 with a live action Disney film version.

Starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, Beauty and the Beast cost $255m to make and grossed $1.2bn at the box office.