This is the best show I have seen in a long time, from the moment the fringed curtain rose to what looked like an overhead shot into a bedroom with the heroine waking to the sounds of Baltimore The audience was captivated, swept into 1962, an era of big hair, colourful clothes and teenagers who just want to sing and dance.

Hairspray revolves around teenager Tracy Turnblad who is determined to become a regular dancer of the Corny Collins Show ever though she is larger than the norm.

Having won the covetted place Tracy turns her hand to the much bigger problems of how to drag her painfuly shy, overweigh mum out of the house and into the 60s; how to overturn prejudice and have black and white youngsters dancing together in a racially-segregated city; and of course how to with the heart of dreamboat singer Link Larkin.

I cannot fault this show or the cast -- everything from the stunning scenery changes to the carefully-executed dances were done with such belief and enthusiasm.

The whole of the cast were full of energy from star turns Michael Starke and Micky Dolenz to the chorus members.

* Until December 11. Phone 01274 432000.

David Knights