Walmsley Church AODS

Parish Church Hall, Walmsley, until Saturday

TEMPERATURES may be falling outside, but Nora Howcroft's flashy, dynamic, deliriously upbeat production turns up the heat until it bursts the barometer. It is rowdy, colourful and quite simply terrific.

This 1986 update of the classic Gilbert and Sullivan Japanese operetta has thrilled audiences worldwide, and Walmsley have put their stamp on the show, and claimed their place in the canon.

Every song is given a vivacious infusion of jazz, swing or blues, and Catherine Pilkington's immaculate choreography, coupled with stunning costumes, leaves you dazzled. Or they would, if the music from Adrienne Wormold's orchestra didn't carry you away.

Simon Pickup is a brilliant, edgy Nanki-Poo, while Steve Benson, as ever, is superb as Pooh-Bah, the captain of cool. Vicki Wilson is lovely as a feisty, thoroughly modern Yum-Yum, and Dave Reeves (a delight to see him again) is a hilarious, camp Mikado.

Both David Wilson (Ko-Ko) and Kathy Turton (Katisha) are simply outstanding. Wilson plays his Lord High Executioner with the wily panic of Sergeant Bilko, while Turton, whose two solo numbers are supreme show-stoppers, elicits genuine sympathy for a comic figure.

There is excellent support from principals Don Fairclough, Alison Smith and Lindsay Farnworth, while the impeccably drilled chorus make this a sassy, sparkling party that the audience justifiably cheered to the rafters.

This is a big, bright, classic.

Nigel McFarlane